No Hope
by oXChiLLyXo
Summary: Kagome has been a slave for as long as she could remember; she never thought she'd ever amount to anything else. Tragedy brings her to work for a new, unusual kingdom. Emotions flare as unusual relationships develop and havoc tears through land.
1. Chapter one: Just The Beginning

**Chapter one: Just The Beginning **

It was very early in the morning. Kagome sat there crying. The pain, the bleeding, the pain, so very bad. Oh, sweet sorrow. Kagome was being transferred to new castle grounds. Her life had actually been pretty good up until now. Her last slave job wasn't impossible; she was fed well, and had her mom. But now? Nothing, the only thing she had was her mom's favorite plate. It was the last present her mom had ever gotten before both of her parents were killed for acts of treason, which they did not commit. Kagome looked out of a crack in the wooden box she was imprisoned in. She had been roughly informed that she would be working as her new lords head maid. Kagome had always hated cleaning, but she had to. She had refused to the guard that had come to pick her up. He had beaten her ruthlessly, and she couldn't remember anything after that. A small glint of light caught her eye. The sun was rising. Kagome tried her best to watch the sun rise. It was painful; her mother had always watched the sun rise before performing the daily tasks. Kagome smiled to herself as she remembered her mother's soft and comforting words.

'_Sun rise,_

_Sun set,_

_You'll always be my daughter,_

_And don't you forget.'_

Kagome inhaled deeply, the air, despite the musty cabin thing, the air smelled crisp, and like fall. Fall was her favorite season of all, she wasn't quite sure why, but it was. The girl exhaled, and clutched the cloth that covered the plate that was formerly her mothers, and fell into a state of unconsciousness.

"Get up wench! I said _get up!_"

Kagome opened her eyes, and slowly got out of the prison she had been held in. She was in tears by the time she made her way all the way out, her back was screaming at her for moving, it stung so badly, she felt a cool liquid trickle down her back and making her only dress cling to her form. She let out a slight cry when she felt a hand swipe across her cheek, which also, stung now.

"Don't talk back to me! If you can't handle this pain, you might as well just give up now!" The slave worker yelled.

"And you will refer to me as Master Gyou. Got that, slave?"

Kagome bit her tongue, but nodded in response. She might as well try to make a nice start. This, was only the beginning of her pain.

* * *

A/N: Poor Kagome, just one thing who's her lord? cough I wonder….. ANYWAYS I WANT AT LEAST THREE REVIEWS OR I WILL NOT CONTINUE! 


	2. Chapter two: Where Do I Live?

**Chapter two: Where do I live?**

Kagome had been walking for what seemed like hours, "Master" Gyou was taking her to her new quarters, where she would live. They were out in the poppy fields, Kagome always like poppies, but she was slightly allergic to them. She sneezed.

"What was that, slave?" Gyou asked harshly.

"Nothing, Gyou." Kagome said, but soon regretted it. Her back was granted with yet another gash from a whip, she had gotten used to the pain, the only two things that worried her was infection, or dying from blood loss.

"What did you say?" He asked again.

"Nothing, _master_ Gyou." Kagome replied sadly.

"Good, good, well we're here, this is where you'll be staying, and you have one roommate. You will report to the cleaning headquarters at sunrise tomorrow." Gyou said.

Kagome hesitantly opened the door to where she might have to live for the rest of her life. It wasn't what she was expecting, it was far nicer than what she had imagined. There was a sink and a bathroom, she guessed, surrounded by a curtain to her right, a counter to her left, with cupboards under it. On the ceiling there was a small light, but that was tolerable. There were two cots in the corner closest to her left as well. The hut was like one giant room. The thing that bothered her the most was the mirror, not the object so much, as the image it portrayed. The figure was tall, and very slender, pale, almost. Her hair was a mess, she had dark bags under her eyes, and her dress was now a deep shade of red, with a few light brown spots that hadn't been soaked in blood, yet.

"Hello?" A voice rang out

"Hello." Kagome replied.

"Who's there?"

"Kagome, who are you?"

"Sango, its nice to meet you, hold on." A tall, slender figure, walked out from behind the curtain Kagome had observed earlier.

"Sorry, I was washing my other dress, I assume you're my new roommate?" Kagome nodded. "Oh, so you're our new head maid? Lucky you, the last one tried to escape, but was shot down, we all miss her dearly." Kagome cringed, why was this girl telling her this? It _was_ her first day here.

"Oh! I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you!"

"It's alright, really, um can I take a bath? It was kind of a long journey here." Kagome asked.

"Sure! Want me to help you set up the bath?" Sango asked.

"No, I'll be fine, thanks." Kagome said, and walked over to the curtained area, and closed the curtain, and there was yet another mirror! Kagome placed her bloodied dress over the reflecting object, so she wouldn't have to look at the haunting figure she called herself. Kagome turned the nozzle on the bath, and cool water came rushing out, Kagome was thankful, because she was burning in this desert-like wasteland. Kagome guessed it was nicer around the lord's palace. Kagome took off her undergarments, and slowly stepped into the refreshing water. Kagome began thinking about what the future held for her. _'I wonder if I will meet the lord, what will he look like? Is he mean I wonder? Why did the head maid runaway? Why do I care? So…tired.'_ Kagome began drifting to sleep, and she slid down a little too far in the tub, and her back got caught on something, Kagome froze, and tried not to think of the pain. She had just scrapped her new cut on the drain. Kagome got out of the tub and drained it, feeling refreshed, despite her newly opened wound. Kagome wrapped a towel around herself, and tried to wash off some of the bloodstains on her dress. She did manage to lighten the color of the dress, but not get the color out completely.

"Kagome! Are you all right in there? We're getting dinner in half an hour! Hurry up!" Kagome wrung out her dress as best she could, and dabbed it with her towel, that now had a few blotches of blood on it.

"Yeah Sango! I'll be out in a minute!" Kagome replied.

Kagome exited the bathroom, with a damp dress on, and went to find Sango. Kagome went outside of the hut, and found Sango sitting on a bench in a small garden. Kagome took a seat next to her only friend.

"Hey Sango?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever met the lord of this place?"

"No, I haven't but I've seen him and stuff, I've heard some nasty rumors that he killed his older brother and poisoned his parents just to get the throne, although, its just a rumor, right?" Sango laughed.

"Ha, yeah, I guess so… Do you think I'll see him and stuff? Because I clean around his quarters now?" Kagome questioned nervously.

"Maybe, I'm not sure really."

"Oh… I see, so what exactly does a head maid do?"

"You know, I'm not really sure, although, the cleaning manager will surely explain things to you."

"Oh, alright then. Say, Sango, what do you do?"

"I am a security guard for the section C1 of the castle."

"Right…." Kagome said, not really knowing what C1 was. She decided not to ask, to just keep the conversation light. There was a long silence, and neither of them really bothered to break it. After about ten minutes, a loud bell rung. Kagome jumped a little bit, and slipped of the bench, Sango laughed a little, then held her hand out to help. Kagome chuckled as well, but winced because of her wounds.

"So, what's that?" Kagome asked.

"Dinner. Let's go, don't wanna be late!"

* * *

A/N: There ya go! Another chapter! Sorry if i missed changing some HTML tags, I originally made this story for another site that didn't preserve bolds and other things, you know how it is... Hope you liked it! Review please if you get the chance!  



	3. Chapter three: Hojo

Chapter Three: Hojo 

"Sango! How much longer? My feet are starting to hurt really bad!" Kagome whined.

"Wow, you really aren't the athletic type, are you? Well, you'd best get used to it, the area in which you work is much farther." Sango warned.

Kagome just sighed; it was typical, for her, after all. With her luck, her new lord would be an ugly fat slob and try to rape her, and just make life harder. Kagome tried to imagine the face of her new lord, but her imagination never really did things in much detail. Kagome ended giving up, and just continued walking. Each second wore on, and each step she took seemed more painful than the last. After what seemed like hours on end, Kagome spotted a tiny white building, it wasn't quite as visible as she would of liked, but the hazy day, and slight smog blurred her vision.

"Sango, is that what the dining hall looks like?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah, but slaves aren't allowed to eat there, silly, that's where the royalty staff and royalty eat, we eat at the mess hall."

Kagome fell over anime-style. "You mean we have to walk _further_ than that!" She shrieked.

"No! We get to the bus stop way before the dining hall!" Sango nearly shouted.

"Whew, that's a relief!" Kagome sighed, she was really quite happy she wasn't going to have to walk all that distance to the dining hall; it was practically five miles off into the distance!

After about fifteen more minutes of walking, and complaining, compliments of Kagome, the two girls made it to the bus stop. Kagome was in slight shock. This palace was so much different from her old one! Slaves were actually allowed to leave their houses, and were able to go to a small little city. It was so bizarre to her; there was a grocery store, a pharmacy, hospital, and even a nice looking restaurant. Its name was 'The Silver Crescent', Kagome made note to ask Sango to go there later.

An old bus came up to the stop. About ten or twenty other slaves boarded the bus, and it was a tad crowded, but it was much better than walking. Kagome was having difficulty breathing, she was squeezed in-between two portly men, and they smelled _terrible_. Kagome was trying to hold her breath, but that wasn't working either. The bus started, and to Kagome's surprise, it jerked, and went at a fairly quick pace. For the first time ever, Kagome was glad she was squeezed in the middle. She most likely would have fallen over had she not been. The lone slave looked out the mud-caked windows of the bus; she could see the vast landscape gliding by forming an almost green-looking ocean. Kagome looked to see if she could see the sky, as to some indication of what time it was, but her vision was limited by lack of space, and the amount of cleaning on the busses. She sighed, she really felt happy for the first time in a while since she arrived. The only bad side so far was the whip-happy slave driver, Gyou.

"Man you are a pretty one, what's your name, girl?" The man in front of her said. He had shoulder-length, sandy brown hair, and was fairly handsome, despite that his clothes and body were filthy, but what do you expect? There all slaves after all.

"Hello? Did you hear me?" He asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, I'm terribly sorry, my name is Kagome, nice to meet you, uh, um… who are you?" Kagome asked.

"My name is Hojo, it is nice to be in the presence of such a beautiful young lady." Hojo exclaimed.

"Why, thanks, Hojo." The bus screeched to a halt. Despite her snug surroundings, Kagome went flying forwards, and was caught by her newfound friend, Hojo.

"Careful there, Kagome, don't want you getting hurt right before dinner, now do we?" He chuckled, and then helped her off the bus.

"Hey Kagome! Who you got there?" A familiar voice rang out. Sango! How could she have forgotten Sango? She had just been on the bus with her for crying out loud!

"Hey Sango! This is Hojo, I met him on the bus!" Kagome said. Sango eyed Hojo suspiciously, Kagome wasn't exactly wise when it came to being around men, Sango could just tell.

"Cool, why don't you sit with us at dinner Hojo?" Sango asked. She wanted to make sure this guy was all right. Sango felt exactly like an older sister to Kagome and wanted to make sure that she was making safe choices. But there was nothing Sango could do to change fate, and fate, was not on Kagome's side.

A/N: Yeah, I know these chapters are unbearably short, but they will get longer I promise! Please stick with me!


	4. Chapter four: Dinner

Chapter four: Dinner 

Kagome, Sango and Hojo walked into dinner together, and started at the salad bar. Kagome was once again amazed at how well this palace kept its slaves. Kagome heaped a huge pile of salad onto her plate, and covered it in ranch dressing, chicken, croutons, carrots, and shredded cheese. She picked up a glass of water and put it on her tray. She waited patiently for Sango and Hojo to get out of line for whatever food they were getting.

"Where should we sit?" Kagome asked.

"How about over there? Sango suggested.

"Fine by me." Hojo said.

They all sat at a wobbly table, it was a cheap plastic, but that didn't make the least bit of difference to Kagome. She began mixing and tossing her salad almost everywhere, and began eating her salad savagely. As if she hadn't eaten in over two days, which she probably hadn't. The only thing that made her pause eating was the feel of a hand caressing her leg. She nearly spit out her food, but she didn't, she just swallowed calmly, and glared at Hojo. He gave her a nervous look. Kagome let it slide, for now, but if her tried that one more— Kagome flinched, and gave and extreme death-glare, and kicked Hojo in the shin. Sango gave a curious glance, but shrugged it off. Kagome stared for a second; ready to slap the bastard clear into Hell if her tried to touch her like that. She liked personal space, it wasn't her fault. Kagome began to eat her salad happily again, and she thought Hojo had dropped the subject until she felt a hand creeping up her thigh. Kagome gave a glare, to get him to back off, but of course he didn't. His hand crept further and further up her leg, until her snapped her underwear. Kagome stood up, and backslapped the pervert.

"HENTAI!" She screeched. The entire room looked at Kagome, and she was too flustered to notice Hojo pulling out a knife. There was a fairly loud shattering sound, and Sango leaning over the table, holding a shattered plate over Hojo.

"Bitch." He growled, and threw a shard of the broken plate at Sango, pinning her dress to the wall.

"Hey!" Sango yelled. Hojo jumped for Kagome, completely ignoring Sango, and pinned Kagome to a spare table. Every acted as if this happened everyday, and went back to eating their dinners.

"I don't take rejection very well, you see." He hissed. Hojo slapped Kagome in the face, hard. Kagome did her best to struggle away, but to no avail.

"Let… me… go!" Kagome said through clenched teeth.

"Not a chance." Hojo said, punching Kagome in the stomach. Kagome began to cough a little bit, and a small amount of blood trickled down her mouth.

"Kagome!" Sango yelled. She definitely did not like being pinned to a wall, while watching her new best friend possibly be raped.

"Need help, miss?" A man about in his lower twenties, walked up to Sango. He was wearing an overseer uniform; Sango cringed. But she couldn't help but notice his jet-black hair, tied back in a small ponytail that reached about his neck, and deep violet eyes, that shone with kindness, and a hint of mischief.

"Uh, I-uh." Sango stuttered. Half of her mind was worried about Kagome, a quarter was worried about what the overseer would do, and the last quarter was just lost. The next thing Sango knew, she had fallen onto the floor, with a soft thud.

"Please, you have to help my friend!" Sango said, pointing to Kagome's direction. To her bewilderment, the overseer's gaze was a confused one.

"Who? I don't see anyone in danger here, miss. If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

"It's—Uh, Sango, what's your name." She said, walking around the large cafeteria, searching frantically to find her friend.

"Sango, huh? Well my name is Miroku, nice to meet such a lovely lady." He cooed.

"Um, thanks." Sango said, sliding out of the overseer's reach, by ducking under a table, still in search of her friend. Miroku was growing just a bit irritated; her friend must be damned important, if a slave wasn't paying much attention to an overseer. Usually, he had girls begging to be his. But this girl, this girl was different somehow, and being ignored by her, only made him want her more.

"Excuse me for asking, sir, but could you help me find my friend?" Sango asked.

"Why but of course. What does she look like?" Miroku asked.

"She's about an inch or two shorter than me, has black hair about to her mid-back, and brown eyes, if that helps." Sango said, it really wouldn't help if she told him what Kagome was wearing, because all slave women wore the same dress.

* * *

Kagome had never been more scared in her life. For one, there was nobody around to help her, and thus they wouldn't hear her, even if they did, they probably wouldn't care much. Kagome was bound by the ankles, and wrists, and also gagged. Hojo was busy making sure no one was around. Kagome looked at her surroundings for a way out, or something to hit Hojo with. Alas, she saw nothing. 

"So, you thought you could get away from me, did you?" Hojo asked, a glint of anger in his eyes.

"Hmmph." Kagome said, the gag was indeed making her gag on her own spit, she could taste a small amount of bile, blood, and a bit of her salad from before.

"I see you're having fun with that gag. I'll take it off, you just have to promise to be a good little girl and don't scream or nothing." Hojo warned. Kagome nodded her head slightly, deeply afraid of what he was going to do to her. All of the rumors she had heard were terrible, and horrifying, she had never thought much about them, until now. She was the one who was going to be told about in all of those stories. Hojo moved in closed, and fumbled with the knot on the gag. The second Kagome felt it loosen around her jaw; she spat it out and immediately began screaming for help.

"Help! Someone please! Anyon-!" Kagome was cut short from her pleas.

"Damn it, I thought I told you to keep quiet!" Hojo snapped.

Kagome's fear intensified when Hojo held out a rather sharp-looking knife. Sharper than the one he had before. Where was he getting all of these knives? Did he have like some psychotic stash of them somewhere? Kagome chuckled to herself, the thought was imaginable.

* * *

A/N: There! I really hope you guys liked it! I'll update as soon as I type the next chapter! 


	5. Chapter five: Slaughter House

A/N: I am so sorry I haven't been replying to your guy's reviews! You all are awesome! You really are! Starting with every review after this, I will put my responses to your reviews at the beginning of every chapter (if I remember lol). Once again, I thank you all for reviewing! This chapter skips around the point of view a lot, sorry, I must have had an extreme case of temporary ADD when I wrote this

**Chapter five: Slaughter House**

"Ah, so is this Kagome as pretty as you? I'd bet not." Miroku said, taking his chances, and moving his hand towards Sango's backside.

"Excuse you!" Sango said, and fiercely slapped Miroku on the cheek. She almost immediately regretted her decision, slaves could be killed without a second thought for failing in a days work, but hitting, or assaulting an overseer was unthinkable here. Miroku's eyes somewhat held anger, and frustration, but what Sango didn't see was that they mostly held a caring glow. Sango put her arms over her head, as if that would protect her.

"I- I'm so sorry, I, didn't mean to!" Sango choked. His response was definitely not what she had been expecting.

"It's fine, really, don't worry about it, no harm done." Miroku said, trying to calm down the girl. The girl stayed silent for a while, and then gasped.

"Kagome!"

* * *

Kagome sat there, with a crazed man standing over her, pointing a knife at her neck. 

"Something funny, wench?" Hojo asked cruelly.

Kagome shook her head, as the gag was back in its original spot.

"Are you sure?" Hojo pressed the knife slightly against her neck, causing it to bleed slightly. He sounded almost crazed, which, in fact, he probably was.

Kagome only nodded as a response.

"Good." He said, taking off his dirty, brown shirt, and throwing onto the ground. Kagome's eyes widened. He really _was_ going to rape her! Kagome began thrashing around, and screaming into the gag. Hojo paid no mid to her, but he was having difficulty taking off her dress. Kagome kicked him as hard as she could in his 'area', and Hojo doubled over from the pain.

"Agh, you're going to pay for that one." He chuckled, a perverted look in his eyes and that slimy grin glued to his face. Kagome backed away as far as she could in her bounds, and soon found herself cornered in between Hojo and a brick wall. 'Perfect.' Kagome thought sarcastically. 'Perfect!' Hojo's mind beamed. Hojo gave up on taking her dress off, so he just ripped it, plain as day. Kagome was left in only her bra, and white thong. Hojo smirked as his eyes ran all over her body. He crouched down on top of her, and began to kiss her roughly.

* * *

"I don't get it Sango, why is this girl so important?" Miroku asked, following Sango throughout the building, and out behind it. 

"If you don't care, than you can get back to your job, Miroku!" Sango screamed. She stopped dead in her tracks. She heard a high-pitched scream of some sort, and she was just about to turn into an alleyway, when blood spattered on the dry, dirt ground.

"Oh my god!" Sango screamed. She fell onto both knees, she hadn't gotten to Kagome in time, she hadn't saved her newest friend. She felt awful. Sango felt Miroku's strong arms pull her into an embrace, and she heard him whisper into her ear.

* * *

Kagome's muffled screams weren't audible to anyone further than ten feet away. By now, Hojo had stripped her of her bra, and snapped her thong off, she was now completely naked, with the exception of the ropes binding her arms and legs together. 

"Hold still." Hojo commanded. He was going to take the roped off of her legs. Kagome, however, was doing anything but cooperate. Then she felt a stabbing pain in her mid-thigh. She screamed in sheer pain.

"Bitch! I _told_ you to _keep still!_"

Kagome stilled herself, her leg wouldn't stop bleeding, and the last thing she wanted was another gash to add to her body's ever-growing collection. She felt the ropes around her ankles loosen, and then disappear completely. Kagome took one more shot at Hojo with her legs. This time, she caught him completely off-guard, and nailed him in the face, and sent him stumbling back a good seven feet. Kagome took this as her only hope of escape.

* * *

"Sango, calm down." Miroku whispered. 

"Calm down? Calm down!" Sango yelled hysterically. "How can I _calm down_ when my _best friend_ was just _killed?_"

"Because, that wasn't Kagome." Miroku said plainly.

"How do you know? She screamed, and the blood…"

Miroku picked Sango up by the shoulders, and carried her so she could see what had happened.

"See? It's just where they cut the meat and stuff, you know, the slaughter house." Miroku said, laughing.

"But the scream?" Sango rambled.

"The lady who cuts the meat always screams when she cuts a thick piece of meat, she's a little bit psycho."

Sango joined the laughter, she felt so stupid it wasn't funny. Sango really had to find Kagome before something really did happen to her, unless it already had.

* * *

I single tear slid down Kagome's cheek. She did not want to lose her virginity to some sleaze bag that she had just met on a bus. No. She would not break. Not now. Not ever. _Would not break. Never._ Kagome had to be strong with this. Her mother would want her to be. Her mother… Another tear. This time, Hojo noticed. 

"Hmm, crying are you? Well, I suggest you get used to it. It's only gonna get worse. He sneered.

Kagome was completely naked, and had many gashed all along her legs, and torso. She felt completely exhausted. It stung to move, and she could feel the blood seeping out of her, and dirt crawling up into her skin. This pain was unbearable. Kagome really hated depending on people, but now, she could only hope that Sango would find her.

Hojo snickered, "This is going to be by far the most fun I'll have in a while." Kagome closed her eyes, and braced herself for the worst.

* * *

"Miroku! This isn't working! We need to find her soon, I'm afraid something really bad is going to happen to her!" Sango choked through sobs. 

"Well, there is a way, but you have to calm down first." Miroku said.

"Anything! Please! I really don't want to lose her, not now." She said, inhaling deeply, trying to calm herself down.

"Alright." Miroku said. He took out a walkie-talkie that was positioned on his belt. He said a couple of sentences into the speaker, and a smooth, and somewhat angered voice came out on the other end.

"Just do it." Miroku commanded, and signed out.

"Who was that?"

"The co-advisor."

"You mean _the_ co-advisor? And _you ordered him_? There's only one person besides the lord with a higher position than that. So that means you're…" Sango said.

"Yup." Miroku answered her, before she asked the question. Sango stared at him in bewilderment. The actual _advisor_. She had never imagined this is what he'd be like, or look like in person. Nasty rumors were spread thick about each one of the royal staff members. Gaining back her composure, Sango quickly dipped into a curtsey.

"Your higher-man, I'm terribly sorry, I—" Miroku cut her off quickly.

"No, don't worry about it, I'm not really into all that fancy title nonsense." He said.

Sango sighed, and stared off into the vast poppy fields, wondering where her best friend could possibly be. Then she saw a cloud of dust quickly approaching. Was that? No. It couldn't be. The investigating team? What were they doing here? Is that who Miroku called? Thousands of similar questions swam rigorously through her head.

The tank-like car stopped in front of the two, and a man, about an inch or so taller than Miroku stepped out. He had long, black, and wavy hair, and cold, piercing red eyes. Sango held back a giggle when she saw that the man was wearing eye shadow.

"Alright, Miroku, what did you need?" The co-advisor asked.

"Get your dogs, and get a trace of this scent." Miroku held up a strand of Kagome's hair.

"How did you get that?" Sango questioned, forgetting her place.

"What did you say, _slave?_" The co-advisor asked.

"Did you just address us without a proper title? I believe that would be a good ten or twenty lashes in your direction, wouldn't you, Miroku?" The co-advisor asked. Sango went wide-eyes. She shot him a pleading look, but she also accepted her fate. Nothing really would have prepared her for his answer.

"You harm her, and I will make sure your tongue is ripped out, tied around your neck, and that you are beaten until death." Miroku said in a calm, demanding tone. Sango shuddered, she couldn't possibly imagine anyone suffering that fate, it was almost inhuman. The co-advisor shivered slightly, and took a step backwards, knowing that his boss was not kidding.

"Fine, whatever you say, advisor, we will begin our search." The co-advisor said, and walked off with Kagome's hair, and gathered his men, and search dogs.

* * *

A/N: Yes, I know, this is going rather slowly, but I promise, I will get to the point soon, so please, stick with me! 

oXChiLLyXo


	6. Chapter six: Hospitals Suck

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for reviewing! Here's some replies to the reviews I got from the last chapter 

**Kurimuson Chishio**: Yeah, Kagome is putting up a nice fight, but then again, if she didn't, the story may get a little bit tedious… And yeah, Inuyasha is the lord D

**funkysurfingurl**: Haha, I would be too, but she'll be okay, I promise!

**Kat57**: Thanks! I suppose I am going a little bit hard on the cliffhangers, but I like some suspense, you can't blame me! Thank you for reviewing my story so much as well! I hope you're enjoying the story!

**xolovexinuyasha: **Hahaha, sorry Inuyasha does not save her this time I'm afraid, but he will later… I was watching Narauto too! Lol!

* * *

**Chapter six: Hospitals Suck**

"Miroku, who was that?" Sango asked.

"That, was Naraku. Stubborn, I never really liked the guy, but I can't do anything about it, that's the lord's decision." Miroku replied.

"Oh, I see." Sango said. There was an awkward silence for a while, when Sango finally piped up.

"Oh gods! I completely forgot! I have to get to my jobs, I—"

"Don't worry about it, I took care of everything, you and Kagome have the rest of the day off." Miroku said calmly.

"Oh! Thank you kindly, sir." Sango said, bowing her head slightly.

"Please Sango," Miroku said, pulling Sango into a loving embrace. "Stop it with all of that 'sir', and 'advisor' crap. Just call me, Miroku." He whispered into her ear.

"Yes, sir, -- I mean, Miroku." Sango smiled, and looked up into Miroku's eyes. There faces were mere inches apart. Miroku moved his one arm around Sango's back, pulling her into a kiss, and his other hand caressed the side of her cheek. The sun was even setting in the background; this would have been the most romantic thing Sango had ever experienced, had it actually happened.

"Advisor, sir!" It was one of Naraku's men.

Aggravated, Miroku stepped away from Sango, and she did the same.

"Yes?" He asked, his patience wearing slightly thin.

Somehow, Kagome had held on. Somehow, Kagome had evaded Hojo long enough until Naraku's men came and found her. Hojo hadn't gotten much further than fingering her, and teasing to an agonizing extent. Kagome's lips were most likely bruised now. From all of the kisses forced upon them. Despite her worsened condition, Kagome tried to cover herself up as the men carried Hojo away. His last words still haunted her.

"I'll get you, bitch, you can't get very far from here, I'll find you one way or another, and I'll make you pay." He hissed.

"Hmm, you sure were lucky, back there." A teenage kid, with red hair, and emerald green eyes looked at her innocently. He was about 4 inches or so shorted than Kagome, and had the cutest puffy tail.

"Yeah." Kagome said, staring at the corner of the jeep.

"You must've been scared, that Hojo character has one long file, believe me." The kid said.

"Yeah."

"You not talk much or something?" He asked. Kagome just shrugged half-heartedly. She was swimming in her own thoughts, well, more like drowning. She hated this place. So many bad things had happened to her, and she had only been here one and a half days, if you could even call it that long. So far, she had been beaten, learned her position, walked ten miles or so, just to get dinner, and then be nearly raped, and not to mention beaten profusely, and before that, her parents had just died, she didn't even get to go to the funeral.

"So, how did you manage to get here?"

"My parents died."

"Oh, I see, same with me, its awful, luckily, I found my long-lost cousin, he happens to be the lord here." Kagome blinked, why has everyone just said 'the lord', instead of lord, whatever his name was? The thought confused Kagome to no extent.

"So, what's your name?" He asked, the kid's constant talking was beginning to get on her final nerves, although, he probably meant well.

"Kagome."

"Hmm, Kagome huh? Well, my name's Shippo. Your name reminds me of the lord's girlfriend. Come to think of it, you look a lot like her too."

"Great." Kagome said.

"Shippo! Get out here! Leave the slave alone, we've got work to do!" The car had stopped, and another of the search team members was getting out of the van, jeep thing, and letting the two out.

"Okay, Kagome, we need you to follow this lady, here, and she'll take you to the hospital, you look like you could use a few stitches." Shippo said, pointing to a petite figure, maybe about four or five inches shorter than Kagome. Kagome nodded, and limped over to the kind face, smiling at her.

"Hello, I assume you're miss Kagome, no?" She asked.

"Yes, I am." Kagome replied.

"Good, my name is Rin, and I'll be the nurse who cares for you tonight, if you could, follow me, please, I'll take you to the doctor." Rin said, gesturing towards the door.

"Thank you." Kagome said, heading off to the small building, even though it was only about a fifty-foot walk, Kagome was gasping for air by the time she reached the door.

"Oh, my." Rin said. "I suppose you're in worse condition than I thought." Kagome forced a smile at Rin, and apparently, it really showed. Rin frowned, and gave Kagome a look of pity. The nurse held up an identification card, and the doors opened instantly. Kagome gasped a little, and Rin giggled.

"Does it, always do that?" Kagome asked.

"Yes, it does." Rin laughed again.

As they walked into the building, the scent of medicine, and sick people stung her nose. She cringed, she had always hated that smell, it gave her a headache. Rin turned down a long hallway, and Kagome followed. Another turn, another hallway. Kagome began to get dizzy after about the fifth hallway, when she became impatient.

"Are we there yet?" Kagome whined, completely forgetting her manners.

"Yup!" Rin said cheerily. "Let me take your temperature, and then, if you would please sit down on that bed over there." Rin pointed to a bed with one of those paper sheets over them. Kagome obediently put the thermometer into her mouth, and waited until it beeped. Rin took the thermometer from Kagome, and recorded the number, and said goodbye, and that the doctor would be in soon.

Kagome fiddled with her thumbs, and hummed an old tune her mother used to sing to her. Kagome stood up and looked around the room, and searching for something to keep her occupied. But she found nothing. She looked at the clock in the corner of the room. It was now 8:35 pm, Kagome was exhausted, and she still needed to get stitches! While Kagome was arguing, and complaining to herself, she heard the door click, and creak open.

"Hello, Ms. Higurashi? We'll take you in the surgical room now." A man in typical doctor's clothing called to her.

"Okay." Kagome said, surprised that she had even been taken to the hospital. She was a slave for crying out loud! What would it matter if she lived or not? (A/N: I have never gotten stitches that I can remember, so I'm going to wing it, if I'm beyond right, lemme know, and I'll fix it!)

The doctor set Kagome on yet another bed, this one, slightly more uncomfortable.

"What are you, what are you doing!" Kagome shrieked, but it was too late, an injection or something had been delivered into her blood stream, and she was unconscious.

* * *

A/N: Wow, Kagome's life just doesn't seem too great right now, does it? Sheesh, her luck is worse than mine... which is saying something. 


	7. Chapter seven: Time For Work

Resonses to reviews:

xolovexinuyasha- Lmao! No, Kagome WAS NOT naked the whole time, I meant like she covered up to the best of her abilities, meaning she covered, it was just a little skimpy…sorry about that

Kat57- drools Cookie……Mmm! Thank you!

Zafiro Okami- Lol! No the doctor isn't Koga, he doesn't come till like, the second to last chapter… the doctor position isn't all too important.

lil-kag0m3- Hahaha, her luck won't change for quite some time, well you'll see later…leaves on a mysterious note

If you want me to reply to your review, it must be for the last chapter I posted, or else I wont remember who I responded to, sorry!  
**

* * *

**

**Chapter seven: Time For Work**

Kagome awoke to the sun pouring into her room, and Sango yelling at her to get up. Her head ached, and her entire body was screaming in agony. What had happened? The last thing she remembered was… the hospital! What had they done to her? Kagome glanced down to her legs. There was a long gash going directly down her mid-thigh, luckily, it was stitched, and bandaged. Kagome felt a wave of relief, hopefully, all they had done at the hospital was stitch her back together.

"Kagome! Hurry up! We have to get to the bus stop!" Sango yelled. Kagome shivered, she did _not_ want to go back on that bus. As if reading Kagome's thoughts she said,

"Don't worry, Kagome, it's a different bus, and besides, I'll be with you until we go to our work stations." She assured her best friend. Kagome nodded, and stood to get her other dress, that she had borrowed from Sango until they could get her another one. She walked behind the curtain, and pulled off her dress, and put some clean underwear on, and pulled the dress over her head. Kagome rinsed a cup of water through her teeth, because she had no time to brush them. Kagome ran a brush through her hair, and tied it up with a red ribbon she found at her old house.

Sango and Kagome walked about half a mile until they came upon a small bus stop, with about five other people there, waiting for the bus as well. They greeted Sango and Kagome politely, and then went back to their previous business.

"Hey, Sango, will I see you throughout the day, at all?" Kagome asked worriedly.

"At lunch, if we have the same shifts, but I can't be sure, I wouldn't worry though, not many people here are like Hojo."

Kagome let out a sigh of relief. She was glad to hear not very many people were like that creep.

After maybe ten minutes, the bus came, looking exactly as the one Kagome had taken to dinner. Everyone waiting boarded the bus quickly and quietly. Once on the bus, no one talked, no one whispered, they scarcely breathed. Kagome decided it was best not to break the silence, and stayed quiet. They got to Sango's stop first, and Sango whispered a good luck and words of comfort to Kagome when she got off of the bus. Kagome felt entirely alone now. She tried to convince herself otherwise, but the silence was driving her mad! She wanted to scream out and yell, and shatter the pestering, cold silence.

"Maid headquarters!" The bus driver shouted.

Kagome, and a few other women exited the bus, and walked to the main building in front of them. As soon as everyone was off the bus, the doors closed to the door, and the bus sped off. Kagome got an extremely uneasy feeling in her stomach as she walked through the sliding glass doors to the entrance. Kagome followed the other two girls into the locker room, and as she did so, she passed an office of some sort. While Kagome was in the locker room, someone came up to her.

"Hey, you're the new head maid, are you? You're going to need to head over to Master Jaken's office over there." A lady, with pointed ears, and red eyes told her.

"Um, thanks, uh, my name's Kagome, who are you?"

"I'm Kagura, now if you don't mind, you're in front of my locker." She stated.

Kagome stood up and blushed slightly, and then exited the locker room. This place was so huge! How was she ever going to find her way around here? Kagome tried her best to remember where the office she had previously passed was. Kagome was so deep in thought she wasn't really looking where she was going, and thus ran into a person she couldn't care less for. Kagome was knocked onto the ground by the impact, but Gyou wasn't.

"Slave?" Gyou said roughly.

"Sorry, master Gyou!" Kagome chimed as apologetically as she could for this guy.

"It's fine, I'll let it slip, this time."

Kagome sighed, and looked around again. She decided to ask for help.

"Excuse me, Master Gyou?" Kagome asked.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Could you direct me to Master Jaken's office?"

"It's just down that hall, and to the left." Gyou pointed.

"Thank you, sir." She said.

Kagome ran down the hall as quickly as she could without being a hazard to other pedestrians. Kagome noticed her location began to get familiar, and then she saw it, Jaken's office. She knocked lightly on the door, and heard a squeaky, demanding voice call out,

"Yes? What is it?"

"It is the new head maid, Master Jaken, may I come in?" Kagome asked.

"Yes, I have some things to tell you before you start today." Kagome stood in front of the toad-like man, and stared at him, listening intently.

"Okay, first, as you may have heard, you will be cleaning lord Inuyasha's room, and his girlfriends room as well. You are not to talk to him, or her. You are not to look at them, and if either of them _do_ talk to you, you are to talk with the utmost respect, understood?"

'So that's the lord's name, Inuyasha, its kind of a cute name.' Kagome thought

"Yes." Kagome said.

"Good, now you will need someone to guide you to the lord's room, as it is your first day, I assume, and your cleaning supplies are in a closet at the end of the hall in a closet on the same floor as the lord's room. Remember what I told you, and you should be good." Jaken said.

"Yes, sir." Kagome said.

Jaken hit a red button for the intercom, Kagome assumed.

"Ms. Kagura, if you would, please escort Kagome to the lord's room."

XxXxXxX

Inuyasha sighed. He was bored out of his mind, and his room was beginning to get dirty, and Kikyo continually nagged him about it. Something about acceptable lords having proper rooms for their lady to come to. Inuyasha was, quite frankly, sick of her, he either wanted some time away from her, or to dump her altogether.

"Inuyasha! Your room is _filthy!_ " Kikyo spat. Inuyasha counted this as the twenty-second time she had nagged him today about his room, there was fifty other things Kikyo had complained about today too. Kikyo continued her rambling.

"Honestly, you should buy slaves that aren't _incompetent_, or _worthless!_"

Inuyasha just tuned her out as best he could, and stared out the window. About twenty minutes later, she hit him with a pillow.

"_Are you even listening to me?_" She hissed. Inuyasha let a low growl escape his throat, and almost immediately Kikyo's scent of rage turned to fear.

"Quite honestly Kikyo, no, I _wasn't_ listening to you, because your constant bitching over nothing is driving me _insane!_ I can't stand listening to you anymore! Kikyo, I want you gone, _now_." Inuyasha seethed.

"Pookie bear, surely you don't mean that, do you?" Kikyo cooed, slipping her arms around Inuyasha's neck, and resting her head on his shoulder lovingly. Had this been the first time she had done that, he would have fallen for it, but not this time.

"Kikyo…I mean it, I want you gone." He said.

Kikyo gave him a look of sheer hatred. "Fine, but Inuyasha, you will regret ever leaving me." She snarled.

* * *

A/N: YAY! NO MORE KIKYO! cough cough Ahem. I mean, awe... poor gags Kikyo... and Inuyasha! Relationship problems, eh? 


	8. Chapter eight: One Long Day

**AnimeMscInuKagLuver1425-** Hahaha, thanks! By the way, do you have an account on Animespiral? I saw a story with like, the same title there as yours. Lol, I posted this story there, and it got deleted! Which makes me sad :(

**Kurimuson Chishio- **Why does everyone hate Kikyo? Yeah, okay, I made her the villan in the story, but I'm pretty indifferent to her lol

**Kat57- **Ack! Why does everyone seem to hate Kikyo! Oh well, its not like I love her or anything... Gets squashed by jumbo cookie and Inuyasha merchandice Yay!

** xolovexinuyasha-** Uh... I think there's some fluff soon, if not in this chapter, lol

**lil-kag0m3- **Yes! We finally meet Inuyasha! Well, here's your next chapter!

**DISCLAIMER:** (That I forgot to post earlier) I **don't** own Inuyasha or any of the other characters in this story! (Except for like, Gyou or whats his face)

(Quick) **A/N: **Yes, this is a re-post, although, it isn't finished yet, (go figure) for anyone who has an Animespiral account, it WAS on there, but ever since it crashed a few days ago, it got deleted :( So feel free to bug me to update soon I need reminding lol**  
**

**Chapter eight: One Long Day**

Kagome was walking behind Kagura cautiously, and looking everywhere to absorb her surroundings, there was no way she could remember this entire place by tomorrow! Kagome was beginning to panic. What would happen if she accidentally looked at the lord, or happened to say 'Hi!' by friendly nature? Her panic began to worsen when she recalled her constant beatings for just calling someone by the wrong title. Before Kagome could have a spastic attack, Kagura interrupted her thoughts.

"Here's the lord's room, now remember what Master Jaken told you." Kagura said.

"Yes, Ma'am." Kagome said. (A/N: In case you were wondering, the maid headquarters are located in the main castle, just on the opposite end of where the royalty resides.)

Kagome walked shakily over to the closet that was supposed to hold her needed cleaning supplies. There was a vacuum, a feather duster, a cloth, some cleaning fluid, and much, much more. Kagome just decided to take the vacuum, feather duster, a bucket, garbage bags, a cleaning cloth and bottle cleaning spray to start with.

Kagome walked to the entrance of the lord's room, and was about to knock, when the door flew open, and knocked her to the ground. Kagome dropped the cleaning supplies she had, and her nose was probably broken now, it was gushing blood. Luckily, Kagome had the bucket near her, so she just let her nose bleed into that for now.

The figure that had knocked her over Kagome found, was a beautiful woman indeed, but had a false presence about her. The maiden scowled at Kagome, and walked around her, as if she was just some disgusting, _thing_. Which to royalty, that's probably what Kagome, was.

It took Kagome's nose a few minutes to stop bleeding, and when it finally did, there was about a quarter inch of blood in it. The bucket wasn't very big, so Kagome decided that she hadn't lost very much blood at all for having just broken her nose. Kagome stood, and went to the supply closet, and walked inside, it was much bigger than Kagome thought it was. You could even walk in it. There was a sink, and bars of soap, and many other bathroom supplies. Kagome dumped the blood in the sink, and rinsed both the bucket and the sink thoroughly. Then she searched the room for some thin tape to keep her nose in line, her younger brother had broken his nose once, and her mom showed Kagome how to take care of it. Kagome found exactly what she was looking for, and ripped a piece of tape on the broken point of her nose.

Kagome walked cautiously back to the lord's room, expecting another door to come flying at her. Just as Kagome had hoped, there were no more people-killing doors. Kagome paused, and then knocked on the doorframe, to ask permission to enter. She wasn't really expecting anyone to be there; because Jaken had made it sound like the lord wasn't going to be in his quarters when she cleaned.

"Who is it?" A charming, rough voice asked.

"Um, it's the new head maid, I am here to clean lord Inuyasha's room, sir." Kagome chose her words as cautiously as she could.

"Come in." Kagome peered into the room. It was huge! No, it was beyond that even! It was about four or seven time that of her hut, and there was even a bathroom, small kitchen, and a hot tub for crying out loud! There was an enormous bed with a well-carved headpiece on the room's east side, with the back of the bed facing the wall. There were two large windows on the east side of the room as well. The bathroom, as far as Kagome could tell, was to her right, and in front of the bed, was the biggest and only television she had ever seen! Kagome glanced out the window, and saw that each had it's own balcony, and the view was beyond spectacular.

The lord interrupted Kagome's gaping with a rather rude comment.

"Are you going to start cleaning or what?" He asked, turning around, to face the slave. Kagome stole a quick glance at him, and then immediately adverted her eyes from him, remembering what Jaken had said.

"Yes, my lord, I am terribly sorry." Kagome stuttered, she was too afraid for words. If Jaken had seen what she had just done, she could expect to be beaten pretty badly, the thought terrified her.

Inuyasha sensed the fear emanating off of the girl almost instantly. Why wasn't she looking at him? Was she afraid of him? Of course she was, most people were. Inuyasha had grown to like it when people feared him, except now, it seemed so cruel to make this girl worry. Inuyasha inhaled her scent again. It was so relaxing to him, it smelled of honey blossoms and vanilla, well, her natural scent anyways. The pure scent had a mix of trauma, grief, terror, and most strongly, blood. The thought that this girl was afraid of him both angered him, and nearly made his heart fall.

Kagome began bustling around the room, picking up discarded clothing, books, magazines, underwear, and other items, and put them into a pile in the center of the floor. She could feel the lord's eyes burning a hole through her, as she walked back and forth through the room, trying to clean the room. Once Kagome had picked up all of the items off the floor, she put the clothes down the laundry shoot, and put knick-knacks of all sorts on various shelves located in Inuyasha's room. Then Kagome picked up a garbage bag, and began to put wrappers and other pieces of trash into the bag. Once she was done with that, she placed the garbage bag outside of the door. Then Kagome decided to clean the bathroom. The bathroom itself was about twice the size of the hut she lived in, which was big enough to house about two people cozily.

When Kagome saw what the bathroom looked like, she almost fainted. It was a mess! This would take her forever! She sighed; she'd best get started if she wanted to finish anytime soon. There was crap everywhere! From toothpaste on the mirror, to toilet paper lying freely on the ground. Kagome decided to start with the cleaning on the ground first. She separated the garbage, from the clothes, and grooming supplies.

Inuyasha stared at the girl who was cleaning his room with haste. It was clear that she wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. She looked so uneasy it made him feel a bit stressful. He didn't know why, but this girl looked a lot like Kikyo, and that made him a bit tense. But her scent was completely different. Kikyo smelt of dirt and almost sulfur, but not quite, and she used too much perfume, and it clogged his senses, and—Inuyasha stopped himself before he just continued to rant on and on about what he hated about Kikyo. Inuyasha almost felt badly for the girl that had to clean his disaster area of a room. There really was stuff everywhere. He hadn't realized it, but he hadn't been able to see the floor before she had begun to clean.

It was about six in the evening by the time Kagome had finished, and Inuyasha had stared at her the whole time. Kagome felt sheer exhaustion when she was finished, and boy was she glad when she did finish. She really hoped the lady's room wasn't nearly as messy… The lady's room! Kagome rushed out the room and went into the lady's room. She heard the lord's voice calling after her. Kagome slowly made her was back to the lord's now clean room. Kagome bowed her head and slightly curtsied.

"Yes, milord? Was there something you needed, sir?" Kagome asked, patiently.

"Yes, you no longer need to clean lady Kikyo's room, she is no longer staying with us. Oh, and what is your name, slave?"

Kagome gritted her teeth, she hated being called 'slave', even though she really was one.

"My name is Kagome, your highness." Kagome said, still not looking at Inuyasha.

"I see." Inuyasha said, and then went to sulking on the couch in front of his T.V. He looked so sad; Kagome couldn't help but wonder why. She went completely against her orders, and walked over to Inuyasha.

"My lord, if you don't mind me asking, why are you so melancholy?"

Inuyasha looked away from the T.V. and directly into Kagome's eyes. They held so much pain, and sorrow, it made his troubles seem like he had only just lost a minor child's game.

"Feh, nothing is wrong, okay? Got it?" He stated rather harshly. Kagome immediately regretted her decision of talking to the lord.

"Yes, sir, I am sorry for asking, I will see you tomorrow." Kagome said quickly, and them picked up her supplies and quickly headed for the exit.

Inuyasha began to think about the day's events all the way from Kikyo, to Kagome. He wondered why it made him so upset when she was afraid, or hurt, or sad. He hadn't ever felt that way with Kikyo, ever, or anyone else for that matter. The only person he could think of could possibly be his mother. He also questioned why she never even glanced at him, and yet, had the courage to talk to him without him speaking first. That night Inuyasha wondered about his new servant for hours, and he eventually fell asleep.

A/N: Okay, so I suck at writing all of the relationship stuff, sorry! I'll try to improve! Dodges a stray flying tomato Okay then, now we're still not into the main plan by now, as I had hoped, so I guess this fic is going to be longer than I thought. Hey, at least you can look forward to a longer story! (That's assuming you like this story though P) See you guys soon!


	9. Chapter nine: Psychic Bus Driver

**Here are the responses to your reviews! Thank you! **

**P.S.-Sorry for updating late... whoops :(  
**

**Kagome14-** Thank you! I just have to remember to update!

**lil-kag0m3-** Yeah, it took me a little while to get to that point huh? Sorry bout that!

**MidEarthHighLanders- **Ha, well the update took longer than I thought it would, I'm just lazy...my bad

**Avelyn Lauren- **Thank you! But…what does 'ja ne' mean? Ha, I've seen it so many times I just never got the meaning!

**Kat57- **Ha, I suppose so, thanks for the flower! I guess the criticism from me to me comes from being a perfectionist… Oh well. I believe you will get to read 35 chapters, if all goes well… (I'm still writing chapter 34)

**xolovexinuyasha- **Yay fluff! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

**

* * *

**

**Chapter nine: Psychic Bus Driver**

Kagome trudged down the stairs to the maid locker rooms, and punched her time card, and turned out the lights, since she was the last one out. Kagome had cleaned Kikyo's room anyway, seeing as how it _was_ her job, and no one would believe her if she told them that the lord himself had told her not to work.

Kagome went to search for a little bit of food, like some sort of kitchen, anything. After all, she hadn't eaten anything all day, and worked her ass off. She had the shakes, and a bit of a headache, but she would manage. To her dismay, there was nothing to eat, not even a crumb, the place was spotless! Kagome growled out of frustration, and headed out of the building.

Kagome stood at the bus stop for what seemed like hours. After about (in reality) five minutes, the bus came, and the clock on it's front read 12:57 AM. Kagome gasped, she was going to be so tired tomorrow! She boarded the bus silently, and sat down in a seat, the bus was empty, except for her, and the bus driver. Kagome's vision began to blur with stinging tears as she yawned. It was all she could do not to fall asleep, which she would have done had it not been for the bus driver.

"So, why are ye out so late?" She asked kindly.

"Oh, well, while the old head maid was out, she left me a massive mess to clean up. I spent all day cleaning both of their rooms."

"Ah, so ye are the new head maid I have heard so much about. I hear you weren't at breakfast, lunch or dinner, tell me child, would you like my sandwich? I picked it up about a half an hour ago, so it should still be good." Kagome was a bit flustered, it was a rather odd question to ask someone whom you had just met, but Kagome was grateful nonetheless.

"Thank you, miss?" Kagome asked

"Kaede." Kaede said.

"Thank you, Kaede, as you may have guessed, my name is Kagome." Kagome said, as she took the sandwich from the bus driver named Kaede, who seemed to know so much about her.

"Miss Kaede, you didn't pick this sandwich up for yourself, did you?"

"Ah, no child, ye caught me, I figured you would be coming this way, ye may think me crazy for saying this, but sometimes I have these visions, and they are usually correct." She stated.

Kagome blinked at this, and just stayed quiet. She did think this lady was a bit off her rocker, but she was very kind to have done such a favor for her.

"Child, if you give my your house number, I can just drive you there, instead of you having to walk all the way home in the dark."

"Thank you, Kaede, I think my house number is something like 6106, but I haven't paid much attention to it." (A/N: P that's my house number, so I thought I could use it )

"Ok child." Kaede said. There was an awkward silence, and Kagome was beginning to hate the quiet-like stature of the busses.

"Is there something the matter, miss Kagome?" Kaede asked.

"No ma'am, I am just tired is all…" She said.

"Ah, I see, but there is something else isn't there?"

Kagome stayed quiet for a while, she didn't exactly like spilling her life's story to people she had just met. But Kaede was different, Kagome felt like she had a connection or something with the old lady.

"I… It's just I'm worried. I have been getting this eerie feeling for a while, like someone has been watching me, I guess I'm just paranoid, and then when I was cleaning the lord's room, he kept staring at me, and my orders were specific not to make an contact with him, but he just looked so sad and—"

"Child please! One problem at a time! And please, try and take a breath!" Kaede warned.

Kagome took a deep breath, like Kaede told her to. Then began to speak again.

"I am sorry, I just have a lot on my mind, I'm worried that master Jaken over-heard me talking to lord Inuyasha, he didn't say what he would do to me, I just got the feeling it would be bad." She said glumly.

"Ah child, I wouldn't worry about it, just remember this, half of life is screwing up, and the other half has to deal with it." She said.

"Kaede, I don't understand, what does that mean?"

"Child, it means that part of us makes mistakes, and that we have to deal with them, life does go on." Kagome thought about it for a while, and then the bus stopped. Kagome said her thanks, and good-byes to Kaede, and then headed to her hut. She hoped that Sango was still up, but she doubted it.

Kagome pushed the screen door aside, stepped into the hut, and then closed the door behind her. Kagome just stumbled numbly over to her cot; the clock on Kaede's bus had read 1:03 AM. She was so tired, and only had about four hours to sleep until she would be awakened to do daily tasks again.

"Kagome! You're home!" Sango exclaimed.

"Sango, I didn't expect you to be up so late, especially waiting for me!" Kagome whispered, not wanting to wake up the neighboring huts.

"Of course I would, silly! How could I not? So, what happened? How was your first day on the job?" She asked childishly, rocking on her cot.

"Very much work, I really hope the lord's room isn't always that messy."

"Oh! Did you see him? Was he nice? Did you see his girlfriend? Hey, what's that piece of tape doing on your nose? You look funny with it on there." Sango bubbled.

"Okay, lets start with the beginning, I was about to go into the lord's room, when I think his girlfriend opened the door in my face, and then it hit my face, and she broke my nose. And yes, I did see him, only in quick glances though, I was told not to speak to him, look at him, or go near him, and if he talked to me, then I was only supposed to answer briefly, and speak with the 'utmost respect' as master Jaken said."

"I see, well, it's really late, or rather, early, we should get some sleep."

"Agreed." Kagome said.

Kagome drifted to a light nightmare infested sleep. She kept having visions of being beaten to death for talking to the lord, and her parents being ashamed of her, shunning her. Even Sango, she was the worst of them all. Kagome was running away, and Sango shot her down, just as the other head maid had been shot down. Kagome laid there, blood dripping through the new hole in her chest, and Sango was laughing.

* * *

A/N: Wow, this is a really fun story to write! Just to clear some things up, the whole family being ashamed, and Sango shooting Kagome was a DREAM NOT REAL! Haha, just thought I should clarify that! If I said Kaede was the old head maid, sorry for the confusion, just disregard the fact that I might have said that, that was just one of those crazy ideas that just don't work :-P 


	10. Chapter ten: Congratulations!

**Chapter ten: Congratulations!**

Kagome awoke to Sango gently nudging her, and the smell of freshly made chocolate chip muffins. Kagome sat up almost instantly, chocolate chip muffins were her favorite, but the only time she had ever had one was on her tenth birthday, when her parents had snuck out and gotten one for her. Sango stumbled backwards a couple of feet, but caught her balance, (luckily).

"Congratulations!" She cheered.

"What? What'd I do?" Kagome asked.

"You survived your first day at work, silly!"

"Oh, okay. Well, that was very kind of you to think of me! How on earth did you manage to get these? I thought only royals were able to get these."

"Yeah, that's true, but I have a good friend who is the main chef for breakfast. I got up early, and asked him if he had a few extras." Sango said happily.

Kagome stood up, and walked over to the doorway of their hut, and looked out the screen door. She gazed past about twenty feet of road, paths, and other huts, and looked at the big clock in the center of all of the huts. It read; 5:01AM. Kagome gasped, she and Sango had gone to bed at about 1:45 when they were done talking, she guessed, and that meant Sango had gotten less than three hours of sleep! Seeing as how she had gotten up early to get the muffins. That couldn't be healthy, the not sleeping, the muffins were fine.

"Oh my God Sango, did you sleep at all last night?" Kagome asked, with a worried ring to her voice.

"Nope, I'm used to it though, I get tired if I sleep more than six hours, I'm not sure why though. Anyhow, enough about me, eat your muffin before it gets cold!"

Kagome did as she was told, and enjoyed every bite of the muffin. Sango also had a muffin; she seemed to like them almost as much as Kagome did. Kagome wondered how Sango had gotten the muffins back to their hut so quickly, but she shrugged it off, and considered it not to be that big of a deal.

"So Sango, what exactly do you do in a days work?"

"Work my ass off, simple as that." Sango laughed.

Kagome laughed as well. "Well, I kinda figured that, we all do, but what do you do?"

"Well, we train, and stuff, and we interrogate captives, and investigate, and stuff."

"You work with Shippo, don't you?" Kagome laughed.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"He took me to the hospital after dinner that one night."

"Oh, I gotcha. Hey look, I'm gonna take a quick shower, and then you can too, okay?" Sango asked.

"Yeah, sure." Kagome said. She had just realized that she hadn't had a shower since she had gotten here (which was three and a half days). She felt pretty disgusting, and she must smell as bad too!

Kagome waited patiently while Sango took a shower, and she was true to her word, she had taken a fairly quick shower. Kagome sprinted to the bathroom they shared, and grabbed some shampoo, conditioner, and two bars of soap. She quickly stripped all of her clothing off, and turned the nozzle on the side of the shower. Warm, (room temperature) water came out of the faucet, and it felt like she was washing all of her troubles away. (pun intended, even though I hate them!). Kagome washed and rinsed her hair about four times, quite literally, and then she lathered it with some conditioner, and rinsed that out. She fingered a few of her long scars trailing her body. There were so many of them, she felt kind of ugly with the trails of discolored lines covering her skin. After about twenty minutes of scouring every inch of her body with soap and shampoo, Sango interrupted.

"Kagome! Hurry up and save some for the fish!" Sango shouted.

Kagome sighed, and rinsed her body until she was sure each of the suds was off of her body, because she hated rinsing the rest off by having to go back into the shower. Kagome hopped out of the shower after she had turned off the water, and wrapped a towel around herself, and her hair.

"Oh, that felt so good, I feel so much better now!" Kagome chirped.

"Glad you think so, now dry off, and put this on, and get some underwear from the clothes line, I washed all of our stuff while you were out late working your job, so it's your turn if you ever get home earlier than me." Sango said, while throwing one of Kagome's dresses at her.

After Kagome had dressed herself, she and Sango walked to the bus stop. It was the exact same as yesterday, same people, same boring and meek greeting. Kagome waited impatiently for five minutes and then began to tap her foot. She wanted to get in and out of her job as quickly as possible.

XxXxXxX

Inuyasha ran around his room frantically scattering his belongings around the floor, putting a few light stains on the carpet, and screwing his bathroom up as much as possible. He wanted that new maid to stay a little longer than she had last night. Her presence gave him comfort for some reason. He didn't know why, it just, did. He really wished he had his parents with him so he could ask for their advice. He missed them dearly, and he didn't know what had happened to them. Inuyasha pushed his childhood into the deep corners of his mind, as he heard a knock on the door, it must be the maid.

"Eh, excuse me milord?" A squeaky, high-pitched toad's voice echoed through the door.

"Yes Jaken, what is it _this_ time?" Inuyasha asked impatiently.

"Sir, it is time for your swordsman class now." The imp said, not even going through the door.

"Jaken, you know I really couldn't care less for them, tell them I will not be attending today." He said bluntly.

"But milord!"

"Jaken…" Inuyasha said impatiently

"Yes, yes milord, right away sir."

Inuyasha really hated that annoying excuse for a demon. He didn't even know why he kept that guy around. Inuyasha gave a quick glance around the room, and made sure that you could barely see the floor. Then he walked out of the room, and hid in Kikyo's room, so he could walk in on Kagome cleaning. Inuyasha went over his plan in his mind. First, when he saw Kagome walk by, he would wait two or five minutes, and then walk in as if nothing were new. After that, he would just watch T.V. or play a video game of something, maybe he could ask her to watch with him or something. Inuyasha slapped himself mentally. Voice 1: 'No you idiot! Why do you even like her? She's just a worthless slave girl.' Voice two: 'I really couldn't care less on what we do to be honest.' And then finally Voice 3: 'You guys are crazy! Have you seen that girl's ass? She is one fine chick, even if she is a slave, no one said she couldn't be our mate, I mean, we _are_ the lord of this place after all.' Inuyasha shook his head; that was a little too psychotic for him.

XxXxXxXx

Kagome boarded the bus quickly and quietly as everyone else did, and didn't talk, like everyone else. Kagome mentally slapped herself; she had meant to ask Sango about that! Well, hopefully she could get to go to lunch, and ask her. Even more so, maybe she could get done early, how bad a mess could one guy make in one night? As Kagome sat down, she remembered the old, wrinkled face in the mirror of the bus. Kaede. Kagome smiled, and then waved.

Kagome walked off of the bus, and into her building, with much patience, and luck, Kagome found the locker room. The second she walked through the door, she heard,

"Kagome please come to master Jaken's office, Kagome to Master Jaken's office, that is all, thank you!"

Kagome sighed and walked off to Jaken's office.

* * *

A/N: Well, what could Jaken have in store for Kagome? Well, you'll have to read my next update to find out! . 


	11. Chapter eleven: Faulty Plans

**Zafiro Okami****-** Sorry about those cliffies, they're just so tempting! (thank you for the reviews on my other chapters too, I hope you had fun on vacation!

**Ayu-Takimini****-** Ha, thank you! I'm glad you like the story And I am sorry about the late updating smiles nervously

**Avelyn Lauren****-** Well, let's just say he won't quite be telling her that…

**Clouds of the Sky-** I'll do my best!

**alchemistgrl09****-** Thank you!

**BitcheyBabe66****-** Ha, thanks…I think… smiles nervously at the threat

**lil-kag0m3****-** Hehe, ok, I'll do my best to remember

**lunerfox****-** Awe! Thank you!

**Kurimuson Chishio****-** No worries, I'm the exact same way!

**xolovexinuyasha- **I'm not sure how you guessed that, but you were right! Congratz! I don't think anyone's guessed that before actually… And I totally agree, fluff is actually my favorite!

**

* * *

Chapter eleven: Faulty Plans**

"Kagome, I know you are accustomed to talking to whoever, whenever, correct?"

"Yes, sir. In my old kingdom, we were allowed to talk freely."

"I see. In any case, yesterday, I instructed you specifically, not to speak to lord Inuyasha, without being addressed to. You thought you could be sneaky and talk to him, eh? You probably thought like all the others, 'Maybe he'd like me better if he got to know me.' Well let me tell you something, sister, you are one insolent wench thinking you could waltz in here, and disobey our rules!" Jaken said in a mocking manner, and on a few syllables, he would spit on Kagome unbeknownst to him (Say it, not spray it Jaken!)

Jaken sat down in his chair and sighed. He pressed the same button Kagome had seen him push to summon Kagura.

"Gyou, come to my office at once." Jaken demanded. There was a crackling sound on the other end, so Kagome couldn't quite make out what was said on the other line. About five minutes passed, and sure enough, Gyou walks in with a whip, and a few other torture devices that scare Kagome to no end.

"Gyou, I meant only the whip." Jaken said.

"Kagome, seeing how this is only your first offense, your punishment will be less severe. You will not have to be beaten in public, and you will only receive half of the normal lashes, I am in a giving mood today. Gyou, take her to your quarters, and do as I have instructed you to do."

Gyou bowed slightly, and left the room, dragging Kagome by the neck of her dress. Kagome was in slight shock. How many was 'half' of the 'normal' punishment? Could she possibly die from it? And what had she done wrong anyways? Kagome thought for a minute, she searched through everything that had happened while she had been cleaning Inuyasha's room. Could it have been when she secretly glanced at him? Or perhaps she had placed something in the wrong spot. Nothing seemed to add up. Then it hit her. She had asked if something was wrong. They should be grateful! He could have died if she didn't ask! Maybe he might have been ill! Kagome's arrogant side argued. But Kagome just pushed the voice away, and accepted her punishment.

Gyou opened a door to what seemed like an old-fashioned dungeon. There were chains on the wall, torches, the works. The thing that disturbed her the most, was the skeleton attached to a shackle in the corner. In the dim light, she couldn't tell. Right now, she didn't really want to know. Gyou attached both of Kagome's wrists to chains on a wall, so her back was facing him. He drew out his whip, and Kagome braced herself for the familiar torrent of pain.

Crack! Kagome mentally counted, one. Crack! Two. Crack! Three… Crack! By now, blood was trickling freely down Kagome's back, and she had just begun to heal there too! Four. Crack! Five. Kagome did her best not to cry, and succeeded, only her face was slightly contorted, showing signs of immense pain.

"You're done here, slave, go wash rinse of in the locker rooms, and then report to your duties."

Kagome limped to the locker rooms in shock. Why was it such a big deal if she had asked if Lord Inuyasha was okay or not? She made a vow to herself, she would just pretend he didn't exist, and if he asked her something, reply with a one to three word answer. Yes, that's what she'd do. Kagome didn't know how much more of a beating she could possibly take, it was definitely taking a toll on her strength, and flexibility. She had to allow some time for her body to heal itself.

Kagome entered the locker room, and looked for the showers, they were in the back. She hobbled over to the showers, and pulled up the back of her dress, so it revealed more of her back. She turned the faucet on, and let it wash away the majority of the blood. Kagome was worried, this was Sango's dress, and she had completely ruined it, great.

There were a few ordinary, and clearly used towels lined up on a shelf, and Kagome borrowed one to dry herself off with. She would look for bandages in the maid supply closet later. Kagome pulled the rest of her now-damp dress over her back, there were a few holes in the back, where she had been hit, but nothing a little sewing couldn't handle.

Kagome wandered the castle aimlessly for a bit, until she encountered familiar territory. She strode along the white and black marble, and made her way up the plush, red carpeted stairs leading the way to Lord Inuyasha's room, and her supply closet.

She made her way over to the large walk in closet, and opened the door. She took out the same supplies she had gotten yesterday, and set them on the ground next to the door of the closet. Kagome rummaged around the storage, occasionally bumping into something, or knocking a bottle over. Finally, she cam across a clean looking towel, it would have to do. She wrapped the towel around her back, so the towel would cover her wounds, and tied a knot right below her sternum.

XxXxXx

Inuyasha sighed. The slave -Kagome- should have been here by now! He tapped his clawed finger on the door. He heard someone walk by, and he cracked the door, just so he could see Kagome's figure retreating to her closet. Inuyasha smirked to himself, it was about time she got here! He closed the door, and pressed his ear up against the center of the door, where it was thinnest, so he could hear her better. She was still in that damned closet! What could she possibly be doing in there? Inuyasha began tapping on his knee now, he was crouched at the floor, waiting. Inuyasha shook his head, this was crazy! Why was he acting this way? He was the lord of this kingdom for crying out loud! Inuyasha stood up, ready to exit the door. He shouldn't have to do this, if he wanted her, he could just command her to be his, it's not like she would have a choice in the matter or anything. He paused. But he wanted her to like him for who he was. Simply demanding her to love him wouldn't get him anywhere. Inuyasha, rather annoyed, sat back down in his crouching position on the ground, again.

XxXxXx

Kagome hummed to herself slightly as she bounced through the hallway. She wanted to spend as little time with that Lord Inuyasha as she could, he really frightened her. So, she decided to go to Lady Kikyo's room, to see if that needed any cleaning, or something, anything. She waltzed up to the door, and knocked lightly, and then twisted the doorknob. 'The door wouldn't budge, it must be caught on something.' She thought. Kagome rammed into the door, trying to break the door free of whatever it was caught on. She heard a grunt on the other side of the door, and sensed a rather clumsy thump about two or three feet from the door. She cracked the door open, and turned on the light, only to see Lord Inuyasha, sitting there, dumbfounded.

Kagome gasped because of two reasons. One, was that she had just knocked the lord over, she was in big trouble! And secondly, this was the first time she had actually seen him up close. He looked, different than her other lord to say the least. Her other lord was somewhat fat, and pompous. But Lord Inuyasha, he was much different. He look well muscled, and very well in shape. His amber eyes shown with a hypnotizing radiance, his hair stood out of the ordinary as well. It was a snowy silver color, but the thing that stood out most to her, were the cute, fuzzy dog-ears perched whimsically upon his head. They were so cute! It took most of her self-control not to touch them.

Kagome realized that she was staring, and quickly bowed her head, and stepped out of the room.

Inuyasha sat there, still in shock of what had just happened. She had knocked him over, stared, and then got out of the room as fast as a human could. She seemed a depressed almost. He had also noticed that she had a towel wrapped around a bloodstained area on her back. Had she gotten in trouble? He would definitely beat the shit out of whoever had harmed her; that he guaranteed himself. But now, he had to go and try to calm down Kagome, she had to be absolutely terrified!

Kagome rushed around Inuyasha's room, frantically trying to clean the room before Inuyasha came back in. But, unfortunately, he was there in less than two minutes. Sensing his presence behind her, she calmed herself, and acted as though nothing had happened.

"Kagome, are you okay?" He asked. Kagome was a bit shocked, she hadn't expected him to remember her name, let alone remember anything about her.

Kagome nodded quietly, and bustled past him, putting garbage bags by the side of the door, putting clothes down the laundry chute, and when she could finally see the floor again, she nearly cried. It was going to take her all night to get these stains out! If she could even get them out, that is.

Inuyasha smirked to himself. His plan was partially working; she would stay much longer than yesterday, but one thing he couldn't figure out, why wasn't she talking anymore? Well, she hadn't said very much, but it had seemed that way.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" He asked, trying to coax her into talking somehow. Kagome only shook her head in response, and went back to cleaning.

Inuyasha sighed; nothing was working! How was he going to get her to talk? He laughed lightly at Kagome's response to the bathroom, which was a small, muffled scream. Inuyasha walked over to the bathroom, to check on Kagome.

"Everything alright in there?" He asked, popping his head through the doorway.

Kagome marched right up to him, stuck her finger out and pointed in his face, their bodies only about one foot apart, at most. Kagome opened her mouth to say something, when she felt the singing in her hack, to remind her of her vow. She closed her mouth, dropped her finger, and sighed in defeat. She couldn't help but feel rage towards the lord; he had, after all, deliberately messed up his room on purpose. Why? She had no idea.

A classic smirk plastered itself onto Inuyasha's face. "Yes, is there something you'd like to say to me?" He taunted.

Kagome whirled around, ready to punch his lights out, but instead, she shook her head politely, and began to pick up the disaster area, called a bathroom.

This whole cycle continued for an hour or so, making the time 12:00, and Inuyasha was sick of the silence. No matter how mad he made her, no matter how much he taunted or teased, she would, not, talk! He bit his lip in frustration, when he heard a familiar sound. Kagome was hungry! Inuyasha grinned, and decided to try out his latest plan.

"Hey Kagome, are you hungry or something?" Inuyasha said, popping into the bathroom, Kagome was having a hard time getting the toothpaste and lipstick off of everything, why he had lipstick, she would rather not know. Kagome glanced at him, and shook her head, indicating a 'no', but her stomach growled again. She quickly grabbed her stomach, and blushed, looking away, as to shut him out, but it obviously didn't work.

"Sure sounds like it, what do you want? I'll have the chef bring up something." He said.

Kagome shook her head once more, and went back to scrubbing like a madwoman trying to get the stains off of the wall.

"Fine, then I guess I'll get two of whatever I'm getting, you like ramen?" He asked.

* * *

A/N: Well, that was an extra-long chapter. Okay, not too much longer, but it was longer than usual. I must say I am proud of myself 


	12. Chapter twelve: Words Unspoken

**Kat57****-** Thank you very much! I'm glad you like it enough to comment on it that much lol.

**lunerfox****- **hmm, I don't think he will right now anyways…

**Tabztnm****-** :Thinks: Hmm, maybe I should open a "beat Inuyasha" stand…interesting…

**Avelyn Lauren****-** You're pretty close there, Inuyasha will do something like that

**lil-kag0m3 & BitcheyBabe66****-** Thanks!

**xolovexinuyasha****-** Yes, I am completely on your side, I do believe Gyou should be killed off in this story, now, anyways, however, I never did get around to doing so. 

**alchemistgrl09-** Ah! Keep your shirt on! The next update's right here! Thanks for reviewing!

**

* * *

**

**Chapter twelve: Words Unspoken**

Kagome sat there dumbfounded, why was he acting this way? It sure was strange to her. But ramen sounded so good to her, and apparently, her stomach thought so too. Snapping out of her thoughts, Kagome began scrubbing the floor to get some of the shaving cream that was there. It had hardened overnight, which she thought was really gross. How could one person possibly make that much of a mess in one night? Oh well, it wasn't any of her concern.

Inuyasha hung up the phone. The chef had said that the ramen would be up there in about five minutes. Inuyasha was just about to go and pry Kagome to talk again, when he heard a knock at the door. To his surprise, it wasn't a room service of any kind, it was, Miroku?

"Miroku? What are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked hurriedly, while pushing Miroku into the hall.

"Whoa, dude, what's got you so wound up? Wouldn't have anything to do with that hott new head-maid, would it?" He taunted.

"Miroku, I swear, you're really pushing it here." Inuyasha said, gritting his teeth.

"Okay, okay, I wasn't here to nag you, but we have to talk about Kikyo."

"Well, what about her?"

"Um, my friend, we should probably talk in a more private area."

"Can't it wait?"

"I suppose so, but I wouldn't wait too long, milord." And with that, Miroku went down the hall, and took a right, leading to the grand staircase. Inuyasha just shrugged, Kikyo wasn't much of a threat, she was from a lesser royal family, had she married him, she definitely would have married up the social class. So, why would Miroku be so worried about her? What was with his not-as-cheery tone? Why did he care? Inuyasha just shrugged, and walked back into his quarters. He walked over to the over-stuffed, but extremely comfortable sofa in front of the T.V. and waited for the ramen to come.

Kagome was still busy wiping up the now-wet, soapy disaster. The more water she added, the messier it became, she would have to go get a mop, but that could wait, she decided to organize the soaps and shampoos in the bathroom, after all, they were still laying scattered among the floor.

Even though she had absolutely no idea where or how things went, she actually had some fun placing the items in a neat row, on the edge of the tub and shower. Kagome admired the handy work on the tub; it looked like a first-rate Jacuzzi, combined into a shower and tub, three in one. Then, she noticed another sheet of shaving cream on the bottom or the tub. She groaned in frustration. At least she could get the tub completely wet, and continue to rinse it through. Kagome warily turned the nozzle on the tub, and was quite pleased that she figured out how to work it without breaking it. She had never been one to figure things out right away. She plugged the drain, and let the water fill up about three-fourths of the way, and scrubbed the crusty soap off the bottom of the tub. What she failed to notice, was a certain hanyou lord sneaking up behind her.

"Gotcha!" He shouted, before gently pushing her into the tub. Luckily, the tub was deep enough that she didn't hit her head. (Wow, yeah, really deep tub, I know.)

This time, it was her turn for payback; she lay there, slumped, and head still under the water. Fortunately for her, she was a pro at holding her breath. She timed herself once, at maximum, she could hold it for about one minute and thirty seconds before needing air badly.

Inuyasha smirked at first, I happy that he had triumphed in his little prank without going unnoticed for a while. After about twenty seconds, he began to worry; he couldn't sense her breathing at all. Forty seconds now, Inuyasha was in a panicked state. He began to turn her over, and pick her out of the tub, when soapy water splashed onto his face.

"Gotcha!" She laughed, but soon realized whom she had just splashed. She couldn't believe it, he was laughing too. Kagome was absolutely petrified. She would probably be killed now, because of what she had done. And she had tried so hard to ignore him! She chewed on her lip in pure terror, and insanity.

"Oh come on now, we finally start having fun, and you ruin it by not talking, _again_." He stated bluntly.

"I am sorry milord, I would love to talk, sir, but I am not permitted to speak to upper authorities." Kagome said.

"Feh, why do you care what they say?"

Kagome stared at the ground, like it was the most entertaining thing on the planet.

Inuyasha growled slightly, but not wanting to scare her, he stopped. "Answer me."

"Because, I have no choice, I am a bound slave, meaning that I am just property, not hired help."

Inuyasha thought for a moment, is that why she always had the scent of blood mixed with her? It did seem like a decent answer.

"It's fine, it's not like they'll know that you're talking to me."

"Lord Inuyasha, I am afraid you just do not get it. They somehow found out about me talking to you last night, and I got beaten for that! There has to be cameras somewhere." She said, a few tears springing from her eyes.

Inuyasha paused, trying to recall when she had spoken to him, he couldn't remember. She had asked him if he was all right or not, but he didn't think that was too bad a deal.

"Listen, I'll talk to whoever your overseer, and tell him that you can speak freely."

"My lord, please, understand, they will just accuse me of witchcraft, and have another reason to kill me."

"They won't say that, Kagome!"

Kagome gave him a hard glare. "Then, I suppose you do not understand what it is like to be a slave." She stood up, and headed for the exit of the bathroom, when she felt a hand wrap around her ankle.

"Where are you going? I'm not done talking to you!" Inuyasha called from his sitting position.

Kagome just shook her ankle to be rid of the burden weighing her down, struggling to get free. Somehow, she managed to break his hold on her, and walk out of the bathroom, however, she had more trouble getting out of his actual room.

Her hand was almost on the doorknob when a red blur appeared in front of her. She shrieked, and jumped back a good two feet or so.

"I said, I wasn't done talking to you. So, _listen_, will you?"

XxXxXx

Sango stood at her position, guarding her sector. She had gotten a new assignment, to guard their latest testing facility. Scientists, and researchers were in the lab currently, working on some experiment to turn humans into demons for the army. She scoffed, why did she have to guard this stinky old place anyways? It's not like anyone would try and breach down here, if they could even get there. Sango guessed, by the number of flights of stairs that she had to take to get to the damned floor, that she was about 700 feet underground. How on earth did they even dig a hole that deep? No matter anyways, regardless, Sango still felt cooped up, she hated being indoors. She missed the vibrant and bright warm waves of the sun, as well as the cool breeze. And on that post, she got to take down more enemies. She respected the fact that she was down here because of her amazing skill, and respected that fact. But did they have to put her all the way down here?

A tall man walked down the metallic hall, in a tan trench coat, and black robes under that. He had long, and wavy black hair. Sango recognized this man as the co-advisor, Naraku. She stiffened, this guy was creepy!

"Halt! No one is permitted on this floor, if you have business here, I need your proof of I.D." Sango said professionally.

"My dear, you do not need to see my I.D. because I am the third most powerful of staff in this forsaken kingdom, and if you don't let me through, I'm afraid there will be very, very dire, and severe consequences." He threatened.

"And I am afraid, Mister Naraku, that I was given permission from the advisor himself, not to allow anyone but the researchers and another few selected persons, and _you_ are not one of them." She hissed, raising her nearly unbreakable hiraikotsu.

"Let me past."

"Sir, go back to your job, so I can get on with mine, now leave before I use force!"

Naraku chuckled, but did not budge; a horrible screeching sound came from within his trench coat.

Sango's eyes widened.

"What- Who are you?"

XxXxXx

Kagome seemed to be frozen, her heart wouldn't cease it's constant pounding, she was almost certain he could hear it, with those handy dog-ears of his. 'So this is why he's the lord, anyone with that kind of speed must have a strength to match, that's crazy!'

Inuyasha took a step towards Kagome, and she took a step back. He reached a clawed hand out, to grab her arm, but she flinched, and got away quickly enough. It was only a matter of time before she found herself cornered between a ticked off hanyou, and a window.

"Now listen to me." He said forcefully.

"They _won't_ question me, and if they do, well, let's just say it won't be a very happy ending for them."

Kagome gulped, and nodded as much as her state of fear would allow.

Inuyasha sniffed for a second, and looked at Kagome quizzically.

"Are you, bleeding?"

Kagome looked down, and saw that her stitches had come out slightly, and there was now a mix of soapy water, and blood on the carpet. She sighed, she didn't really know, or care how her wound had re-opened, but what she did know, was that it would take her a good half an hour of scrubbing and bleaching to get the carpets cleaned again. Kagome tried to move, but Inuyasha wouldn't budge.

"Lord Inuyasha, could you please get off of me?"

"And where are you going this time?" He asked irritably.

"Just to the supply closet, sir. I need to bandage my leg, and get a few towels and bleach to clean up this mess."

Inuyasha sighed, and nodded. "Go."

Kagome walked out the door, and limped slightly. This made Inuyasha's rage grow to near blind fury. How could those bastards beat her for just asking if he was okay? How had she gotten that gash on her leg? It certainly wasn't from one of the guards; the scent there was different. Another thing that set him off; she had doubted him! How dare she? He _was_ the lord after all. Inuyasha furrowed his brow in pure frustration.

There was a knock on the door, and then a portly man, about five inches shorter than Inuyasha, walked in.

"Sorry this is so late, milord, we didn't know which flavor you wanted, and then we had no gas on the stove and—"

"Save it. Thank you, and you may leave now." The man nodded, and left quickly, leaving the cart, with the steaming bowls of ramen on it, there were also a few fruits, and a couple of pastries, and deserts and such. Inuyasha inhaled deeply, the aroma was delicious. He was going to wait for Kagome to return, though. What was taking her so long anyways?

There was another knock at the door, and Inuyasha sensed Kagome's scent lingering behind it. Something that tried Inuyasha's patience further, was that her scent was mixed yet again with sorrow, worry, despair, and an extreme amount of anxiety. He really wished those would go away, but he didn't know how to fix it.

Kagome entered the room with her underwear, and a large towel on. Luckily, the towel reached down past her knees, so she felt a little better than wearing just her underwear.

While she had been searching for a towel to clean and wrap herself with, her dress had gotten caught on a piece of metal sticking out from one of the shelves and completely ripped in half, Sango, would not be very happy with her.

Inuyasha smirked, so, what happened to you?"

Kagome drew a rather annoyed face. "My dress got ripped, I am sorry, sir, I can go and look for another dress, and this was all I could find at short notice though."

"Will you stop calling me 'lord', and 'sir' all the time? I really hate that." He said.

"I am sorry, milor— I mean, Inuyasha." She said rather uncomfortably.

Inuyasha ignored the last bit, and handed her a steaming bowl of noodles. Kagome took it willingly, and took a pair of chopsticks from the cart. Kagome breathed in the scent of the noodles she had always loved; her dad had managed to get some for the family at dinner one night. That had been a great night, and the last one… It seemed so long ago, when really; it was just a little bit short of a month that she had lost her family. She knew her parents were dead, but had absolutely no idea where her brother was; she hoped he was having a better time with the guards than she was.

"Something wrong?"

Kagome shook her head, indicating a 'no.'

However, Inuyasha didn't believe Kagome in the least bit, he could tell something was bothering her.

"If it's about the guards, don't worry about it, I won't let them hurt you." Kagome choked on her noodles a bit, before finally swallowing them. She hadn't been all that worried about what they would do, because death really didn't seem all to worse than being beaten everyday, and having to clean a disaster area everyday. But still, something, something felt right about this, him. She couldn't be falling for him, could she? Surely the lord of a kingdom as large as this would be just toying with her, maybe trying to use her as a prostitute. She shivered at that thought. Being someone's booty call was the exact opposite of what she wanted for a job. If anything, she wanted to find her brother, and get out of the warring kingdom areas. She would somehow have to sneak onto a boat going to the new world, and seeing as how she had absolutely no clue where she was, she couldn't leave the premises. Especially with those guards shooting everyone down who tried to leave.

Inuyasha was deeply confused by this girl's actions. He would have thought a slave whom he had just given permission to call him by an informal name, and said that he wouldn't let anyone hurt her, would have been happy, or something close to it. But the closer he got to this girl, the more she tried to push him away, and the more he wanted to get to know her.

"Do you like it?" He asked.

Kagome nodded her head, and glared at the ramen, like it had just slaughtered everything near and dear to her. (that rhymed, tee-hee-hee)

"Kagome, tell me what's wrong, now."

"It's nothing milord! Nothing at all. Whoops, I mean, Inuyasha. It's going to be different to address you like that." She laughed. Kagome was trying to act happy, in order to keep Inuyasha happy, or at least get him to stop bugging her. She felt ridiculously depressed right now, like she was going to lose hold on reality at any second.

"Kagome…"

"Yes, Inuyasha?" She asked perkily.

"Are you sure—"

"That I'm okay? Yes, never been better! Thanks for lunch, I should really get back to cleaning though and—" She said, standing up.

"You're not—"

"Sick? Nope, not in the least bit, I'm perfectly fine." She said smiling, and doing a clumsy twirl, although, it wasn't very graceful, considering she was only in a towel. This happiness was really wearing her down, but she couldn't put the act down, or he would give her a waterfall of questions. Well, he was right now too.

"Wow Kagome, you sure are—"

"Energetic? Some people say that about me, and they are probably right."

"Would you stop—"

"Interrupting you? Sure! Whoops, sorry." She said.

"Why don't you sit down, and relax, and I'll go get a new dress for you." Inuyasha said, picking Kagome up bridal style, and plopping her on the couch. "You can watch some T.V., if you want." He said with a warm smile. Kagome gave her best fake smile back.

When he was finally gone, Kagome rubbed the corners of her mouth, they were aching from smiling so much. Kagome stood up, and hobbled to the bathroom. She was going to clean that place if it was the last thing she did. She wanted to go home, and talk to Sango.

Kagome grabbed for the towel in the corner of the large bathroom, only to find it sopping wet. She sighed and glanced around for another towel. She finally saw the only other towel in the bathroom, and to her horror, it was drenched as well. She thought hard for a moment. Wait, she was wearing a towel! She could wipe the floor clean with that!

Kagome ripped off her towel like a madwoman, and threw it to the floor, she began to wipe up the mess she and Inuyasha had made. Luckily, the soapy waters had actually cleaned a good portion of stains on the tiled walls and floor. When she was finally done, which took only about five or ten minutes, Kagome plopped down in sure exhaustion on the freshly dried floor. Now all she had to do was get the stains out of the carpet of the main room.

Click. Kagome gasped. She had nearly forgotten Inuyasha went to get her a new dress! He couldn't see her like this! She began to panic. The towel she had planned on tying around herself afterwards was grungy and repulsive. What to do, what to do?

"Kagome!" Kagome heard him walking around the room. Kagome figured he'd be over to the bathroom in a matter of seconds, because of his demonic powered smell.

"Kagome, can I come in? Are you alright?" He asked through the door. Kagome panicked, and quickly jumped up to lock the door.

"Kagome? What's going on? Let me in!" Inuyasha said, pounding on the door.

Kagome bit her lip, how was she going to explain this? She went over her options, she could just tell him she was cleaning the bathroom, and needed to use her towel, so she was only in her underwear, the truth, or she could make something up, like, oh who was she kidding? Kagome was a terrible liar!

By now Inuyasha had cracked the lock, and it was just Kagome pressing against the side of the wall, and the slippery floor to keep the door shut.

"Hold tight Kagome, I'll get this door open! Iron reavor soul stealer!"

The door split right where Kagome had been holding it. She felt a deep sting in her shoulder, and cried out in pain. The next thing she knew, she was on her knees, using one hand to support herself, and using the other to clutch her bloody shoulder. She was also in her lacey pink thong, and bra. Kagome changed about fifty different shades of red.

Inuyasha just stood there, staring. Soon, he remembered his manners, and the fact that he had just sliced through this girl's shoulder.

"Ah! Kagome! What the hell were you doing? You could have gotten yourself killed!" He scolded.

Kagome looked up into his eyes, and saw a deep shine of concern and worry. Then, she happened to notice where his eyes were wandering.

"Pervert!" She shrieked, and then ran back into the bathroom, to hide behind a curtain, anything!

Inuyasha pictured himself doing not-so-PG13-rated things to that slave girl. Did he really love her _that much?_ Man, this girl did things to him that he didn't think possible.

"Kagome!"

"Go away! I'm warning you!" She said fiercely.

"I just want to help."

"I can do just fine on my own, thanks." She said bitterly.

"Is that anyway to talk to your lord?" He teased.

She gasped. "Ah! I completely forgot! You just seemed so, normal, I completely forgot." She screamed in frustration, and a climbing amount of fear.

Inuyasha mentally slapped himself. He made a bold mental note to never use that phrase again.

"Kagome, I didn't mean it, really I didn't!"

She was silent, _again_. Inuyasha would have preferred her yelling at him, or shouting, anything was better than the silent treatment.

XxXxXx

Sango sat collapsed against the metal wall of the hallway she was supposed to be guarding. She had fooled Naraku into thinking she was dead, a demon slayer's best trick, they could control their heartbeat for a few minutes, so it will pulse so weakly, that it will go undetected, but keep them alive, hold her breath and keep still, giving her the appearance of being a corpse.

Sango went over the highlights of the battle, and possible motives that Naraku could have for wanting that formula.

.:FLASHBACK:.

Sango charged at Naraku, with her giant boomerang ready behind her. Somehow, Naraku took the blow, but sent it back at her, with at least twice the force. Sango had gotten up after that, but obviously weakened. She drew her sword, and charge once more.

This time, she swung her sword, and it seemed as though she had hit him directly. But miasma oozed out of a puppet, and the true Naraku stood on the blade of her sword, and kicked her into a wall. Knowing she would not keep her life much longer if this continued, Sango literally 'played dead.'

.:END FLASHBACK:.

Sango scolded herself for being so stupid. Naraku was a half demon after all, and that meant he had strength and speed above that of any average human. But she _wasn't_ any average human. Sango could easily kill lesser demons, and possibly some of higher rankings, so why couldn't she manage to take down that hanyou? Sango reminded herself, that the lord of the castle was in fact, a half-demon, and he had beaten many of the strongest full youkai in existence. It just didn't add up. Could Naraku have possibly wanted that formula to make himself a full demon? No, he didn't seem like that type; he would just have someone else do it for him. Sango's brain was complaining about the over-use. There were just too many things to think about. Miroku would definitely be furious with her for failing him. Sango knew he had pulled a few strings so she could get this job, it really was only for the best of the best, and many were more qualified, and willing than her to take this post.

Sango stood up slowly; Miroku was really the only person she could take this issue to. He would,  
most likely be very upset about this. But she wouldn't stop until she revealed the truth about Naraku.

* * *

A/N: There you go! That chapter was long because: 1. I got have now reached over 50 reviews! cheers! And 2. You guys have been so nice to me, and I thought you all deserved it. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! Later! 

oXChiLLyXo


	13. Chapter thirteen: New Dresses

Thanks to all who reviewed! I'm way too lazy to respond to all of the reviews . (sorry! I'll answer he questions though!)

I believe that there was only one question, but nonetheless, it asked if Sesshomaru was going to be in this story. Yes, he will be, not for very long, but he will be. I think (if I end up making sequels) that he will have a bigger part in those.

Now, for the long awaited chapter thirteen!

Chapter thirteen: New Dresses

"Damn." She cursed. Her shoulder was much worse than she had expected. The cuts weren't fatal or anything, they just hurt like no other. Kagome had made Inuyasha wait outside of the bathroom, while she attended to her wounds.

"Inuyasha! Can I use the tub for a minute?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure!" He called; Inuyasha was sitting on the couch watching some sports game Kagome didn't really care about.

Kagome gingerly turned the faucet on, and waited for the tub to get about six inches deep. When it had, she gently splashed water on it, a little at first, and then more as she got used to it. By the time her bleeding had subsided, and wound cleaned, and dressed, it was close to 4:00 in the afternoon, and Kagome was still in the bathroom. 'Boy this day sure isn't going very quickly.' Kagome thought, and sighed. She wanted to get away from this place, the last thing she wanted, was to develop feelings for the young demon lord. If she did, it would probably mean big problems for the both of them, and she i really /i didn't need any more problems.

"Kagome! Are you done in there yet?"

"Yes lor—uh—Inuyasha! But, do you have that dress that you said you would get?" She asked, as politely as possible.

"Oh, right. I forgot about that." He said. Kagome heard him walk over to wherever the dresses were, and then towards the bathroom. He was just about to come in when she stopped him.

"Eyes!" She said in a warning tone.

"Sorry." He said, putting one clawed hand over his eyes, and handing her the dresses he had gotten. Kagome gasped.

"Inuyasha! These are much too nice! I can't work in these! I'll ruin them!" She exclaimed.

"Don't worry about it, I got more than one, you know. So it won't matter what happens to them. Hurry and try them on, I wanna see how they look on you. He said with a grin. Kagome couldn't see the laughter in his eyes, on the account that he had his hand over them, but she thought she saw a slight crack where his fingers met…

"Okay, let me get dressed." She said, pushing him out the doorway. Kagome really wished Inuyasha hadn't knocked the door to pieces, that would be hard to explain.

Kagome laid the dresses on the rather large granite counter in the bathroom. There were five dresses, each beautiful in it's own way. The first kimono was a calming powder blue, with a green trim on the ends, and matching chopsticks to put in her hair. The second dress was a sheer purple color, with a black under robe as the second layer; there was a red-print lily on the bottom of the long skirt, and a matching purple bow for her hair and wrists. The third kimono; was very cheery and warm. It was yellow, with extra-long sleeves, and orange frays at the end, and there was a white flower pattern all around the dress, and also had a matching accessory with it. The fourth kimono was a deep red, with purple lacing all around it, it looked like the sewing machine had gone wild, but stayed on the dress, it was still beautiful. The last dress was by far the most breathtaking. It was pure black, with a light pink tie around the waist; there were also pink and glittery chopsticks for her hair, and a pink and black fan as an extra accessory. She decided she wanted to try the black dress on first.

It took about an hour for Kagome to get in and out of each kimono, put on the accessories, and show Inuyasha. He smiled and nodded his approval for each one. Kagome asked him which one he liked best on her, and his answer was the same as hers. "That black one, with the pink bow in the back." He said sweetly, when he answered her question. She had finished taking off the last of the kimonos she had been kindly given, and decided to use the purple, black, and red dress first. She put it on, and walked out of the bathroom, carrying the other four dresses.

It was nearing six o clock, and Kagome was deadbeat tired. But, she did have her duties to perform, she looked around the room, and tried to recall if she had cleaned the carpets or not. She didn't remember getting the stains out, or, all of them at least. She shook her head, and tried to think more clearly.

"Did you…?" She asked, slightly grinning.

"Did I what?" He asked, also smiling.

"Thank you." She said. The room was now spotless, and she would get to go home so much earlier than last night!

"Hey, Kagome, how did you break your nose? I had been meaning to ask you that, it just slipped my mind." He said, signaling the tape placed over her nose.

Kagome flinched, she couldn't tell him that Kikyo did it, no; she couldn't, weren't they still together? Maybe not, but still, she wouldn't risk it.

"I, uh, I ran into a wall, it was dark out."

Inuyasha mouthed an, 'Oh', and there was an awkward silence for a while.

"Well, I will be back tomorrow, Inuyasha. Oh, and please try not to make as much of a mess tonight, okay?" She asked.

Inuyasha blushed slightly, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "Uh, sure, do you want me to go with you? That is, I mean, to explain to Jaken and all…" Inuyasha stuttered. Kagome cut him off before he made an even bigger fool out of himself.

"Sure, let's go." She said, smiling warmly, picking up the cleaning supplies she had used. She staggered from the weight of the dresses, and supplies, so Inuyasha picked them all up off of her shoulders, as if they were mere feathers. She looked at him, with a mix of confusion, and awe in her eyes.

"What, would you rather fall over with all of this stuff?" He joked. Kagome shook her head, responding a 'no', and walked towards the closet, and opened the door. Inuyasha placed the items on the floor, and closed the door quickly. He hated the feeling of that closet, it was just, creepy.

The two made their way done the stairs, and into Jaken's office. Well, Inuyasha went into Jaken's office, Kagome just stood outside the door, and strained herself to hear the conversation.

"But, milord! She surely must be a witch of some kind! Don't fall for her petty tricks!" Kagome laughed, she was right about one thing.

"Listen, I will do what I want, and you are to go by my wishes, is that clear?"

"Milord! You are being unreasonable! I—"

" i Is that clear? /i " Inuyasha stated sharply, the anger and frustration clearly ringing through his voice.

"Ye—yes, milord." Jaken stuttered.

Inuyasha walked out of the room, in a bit of a bad mood that Jaken would dare to question his authority. He was a bit surprised to see Kagome staggering to get her balance, and regain her posture.

"Did I not tell you?" She giggled.

"Tell me what?" He said.

"I told you he would accuse me of being a witch!" She said.

"Oh, that."

"What am I going to do with the kimonos?" She asked.

"Take them with you of course." He said, handing her the dresses.

"Okay, but what if I get them ruined?"

"Well, if you mean by getting hit, that won't happen, not on Jaken's life that is anyways. And if you get dirt, or cleaner or whatever on them, that shouldn't be a problem, the laundry system here should clean them, and if worse comes to worse, we'll just get you a new one."

"Alright then! Well, thank you very much Inuyasha!" Kagome said, bowing slightly, and looking up at Inuyasha. She gave him a light hug, and rushed out the door, with the dresses flying behind her.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

A/N: Hope you enjoyed!


	14. Chapter fourteen: Exposed Pt1

Chapter fourteen: Exposed - Part 1

Sango made it up the stairs one at a time with what little strength she had. She would not give up until she told Miroku what had happened with Naraku. She despised traitors for all she was worth. That's how she had lost her family, some pompous freak thinking if he turned against his village, that the enemy would spare him. He ended up being murdered, along with her brother, mother, and father, and other comrades. Sango had managed to stay alive, but was brutally taken as a hostage, and forced to word as a guard for Inuyasha.

There was a horrible hissing noise, accompanied by the sound of metal crackling and collapsing. Sango had about three more flights of stairs to go; she didn't know whether or not the structure would hold up!

Hundreds of lesser demons fled up the stairs, and Sango jumped on the nearest one for a ride. The beast reared its head, and hissed, trying desperately to get the extra weight off, but Sango held onto it with all she had. 'One more to go…' Sango thought with a spark of hope. There was another cracking sound, and the heavy metal let out a loud groaning sound, signaling it was about to give way. 'Come on, come on!' Sango pleaded.

Fresh air and warmth greeted her senses in a giant wave, accompanied by a shooting pain in her ankle. Sango fell off of the demon, setting it free, and leaving Sango to sit in the dirt. Now, which was to Miroku's office? She looked around, but found nothing to jog her memory. Seeing as though this was a new sector for her, she had no idea where she was in relation to everything else.

Sango pulled herself to her knees, and used both her arms for support. Her eyes had a bit of trouble adjusting to the bright light reflecting off of just about everything, but she could see a bus stop in the near distance. She praised her good fortune, but collapsed from pure exhaustion. Everything faded into silence, and darkness.

XxXxXx

Sango awoke, and rubbed her dry eyes, trying to bring them into focus. She lifted her form, to stand on her right foot, but shrieked in pain, and doubled over. Sango remover the cloth surrounding her ankles, and saw that her ankle was about twice to three times it's normal size, and it looked pretty banged up, it had a few red, blue and purple marks on it. Sango sighed, and ripped the bottom of her green skirt. She tied many strands around her ankle, so hopefully it would be supported better than it was without anything at all.

She aimlessly limped towards her goal, the bus stop. Judging by the location of the Sun, Sango guessed it was nearing six o clock. Good, then she should make the sixth bus in time. Sango tripped on a stone lodged into the dirt, and fell to her knees again. This may be a harder journey for her then she had thought. Pacing herself took a great deal of patience, Sango concentrated on one foot, then dealing with the next, and she was making some progress, she figured she'd be there in about twenty minutes or so.

XxXxXx

Kagome ran with all of her speed towards the bus stop, she didn't want to miss it, and then have to wait another hour for the next one. With much luck, Kaede was waiting for her, and there was no one on the bus, again. Kagome thought it was strange, but paid no mind to it.

"Hello, Kaede!" Kagome greeted cheerily.

"Ah, hello child, do you mind waiting for a bit? I feel like someone else needs a ride." She said.

Kagome sat down and smiled, still clutching the dresses as if they would slip away if she loosened her grip.

"So tell me dear, how was your day today?"

"Tiring, but I suppose I should get used to it, eh?"

"True, we all have hardships in our lives."

"Yes." Kagome agreed.

There was a slight silence, but Kaede decided to shatter it, she closed the bus doors, and drove into a barren field.

"Kaede, what are you--? Oh God, Sango!" Kagome shrieked.

Sango was lying on the ground panting heavily from overusing her limbs. Kagome rushed off the bus to help her friend get onto the bus. Kagome slung one of Sango's arms around her neck, and put her hand securely on her side, and pushed off the ground, and stumbled to the door. Kagome took Sango to the back of the bus, where the longest seat was, and placed her on that.

"Sango! Sango, wake up!" Kagome said, gently shaking her friend.

Sango slightly whimpered, and opened her hazy eyes.

"Where am I? Where did Naraku get to? Miroku!" She slurred.

"Okay, calm down, everything will be fine, just tell me one thing at a time, now, what about Naraku?"

Once Sango fully regained consciousness, she told Kaede and Kagome the story. However, they had to get Sango to the hospital before they could do anything about either Miroku or Naraku.

XxXxXx

They made their way to the hospital, and walked into the main lobby. The same perky nurse, Rin, guided them all to a room. She followed the normal routine, taking her temperature, weighing her, measuring height, and all of the other things that were completely irrelevant to the matter at hand.

"Thank you for waiting, the doctor will be with you in a moment." She said.

The three nodded, and awaited the doctor to help Sango with her ankle. After sitting in silence for about twenty minutes, a cheery man in a typical doctor's uniform walked in. He took the three women to an x-raying room so he could get a better look at Sango's ankle. Kagome and Kaede waited outside the door, while the nurse and doctor put Sango in about five different positions to look at her ankle.

As it turned out, Sango had broken her ankle in three different places a fair amount. The doctor put a cast around Sango's ankle, gave her crutches, painkillers, and then called it a day. The group left, and then headed to Miroku's office.

"So, Sango, what do you think of Rin?" Kagome asked, looking out the window of the bus.

"I don't know, she seems nice enough."

"Yeah, she seems a little too perky though."

"Sometimes people just act that way to hide how they're really feeling, oh, Kagome, nice dresses, how did you manage to get those? And what happened to my kimono?"

Kagome thought about what Sango had said, and immediately connected it to herself, that was exactly what she had done to Inuyasha! And then, Kagome sweat-dropped. This had to be the second one of Sango's dresses she had ruined!

"Uh, let's just say it ripped beyond repair."

"Oh, I see."

Kagome almost instantly felt horribly guilty. "Hey Sango, I'll let you have these two, if you want." Kagome handed over the deep red, and blue kimonos. She really did love those two dresses a lot, but she loved Sango more. (Not in the perverted way you losers! Haha, just kidding! About the loser part, I mean)

Sango's eyes brightened. "Really? I can?"

Kagome laughed. "Of course you can, it's the least I could do."

The bus pulled up to where Kagome would usually go to work, seeing as how Miroku worked in the same building, but just in a different part. Kagome could sense that Sango was terribly worried about what would happen. Sango usually could hide her emotions, but not this time, this time, it was different. There was a most serious matter at hand. Kagome gave Sango a look of pity, she knew how it felt to be so afraid of something, and not be able to do anything about it. She had been told her whole life by her parents, that, 'No matter what the situation, no matter how dire, you can still do something about it, and make a difference.' Kagome was beginning to doubt that entire phrase. She put a comforting hand on Sango's shoulder, letting her know that she would always be there for her.

They opened the door with Kagome's key card, and walked in. There were still a few people there, but you could tell that the amount of people had been decreasing for a while. They stumbled about the area of where Jaken office was located; figuring Miroku's must be somewhere near there. Luckily enough, they were right, Miroku's office was somewhat close to Jaken's.

Sango walked up to the door, and knocked lightly, and took a step back.

"Come in."

Sango and Kagome walked in, and Kaede decided to wait outside. What they saw in the office shocked them. However, it wasn't the ladies in the magazines, or calendars, or the…T-shirts? No, it wasn't any of that stuff that surprised them; it was Naraku sitting casually in front of Miroku's desk, with Miroku sitting behind the desk.

"Oh, Sango, I am glad you came, I understand from Naraku, here, that you attacked him for no reason at all." He said, his face much more serious than the two girls had ever seen it be.

"What? That is completely out of line! Do you not see me in crutches? I'm the one who's hurt!"

"Sango, that proves nothing. Naraku says that he hit you in order to defend himself. However, he said that you had passed away after the blow, I see now that isn't quite the truth."

"This is completely unreasonable! He breached the lab! I don't even know how he got all the way down there! Naraku broke into the lab, and stole whatever the hell that those damned scientists were working on, apparently, it was of value to Naraku."

"I am sitting right here you know." He said, a smug grin spread across his sickening face.

Miroku gave a sideways glance at Naraku. "Sango, it is not necessary to raise your voice, we are all in close enough range."

"Miroku, how could you not believe me?" Sango said, tears dripping form her eyes. "I would have thought you of all people would have believed me."

"Its not that I don't believe you Sango, it's just that Naraku's evidence seems more truthful."

"Then why did he say that I had died?"

"He probably just knocked you unconscious, and mistook you for being dead."

"He's part demon! He would have been able to tell if I had been alive or not!"

"Sango, please, you're only making it harder than it is."

"Is it really harder to tell the truth?" She asked, hysterical now.

Miroku was silent.

"Are you quite done now, Sango?" Naraku interrupted.

"You low-life bastard! You won't get away with this!" She said, lunging at him. She had a hold of Naraku's neck, and was using all of her force to strangle him. However, she wasn't really doing any damage. Miroku, however, didn't see that, he ran around his desk, pried Sango off of Naraku, and threw her to the floor.

"Sango! Do you really expect me to believe you, when you just blindly attacked him? I'm sorry Sango, but I don't think the defense sector has any more need for your services."

Sango stared at him in disbelief, from her position on the ground. She couldn't get up, so she stayed put.

"What, what do you mean?" She asked, silently.

Apparently, Naraku had heard her.

"It means, you'll be working as a maid from now on."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

A/N: Wow, Naraku, you need to get a life. Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter, somewhat anyways.


	15. Chapter fifteen: Exposed Pt2

Chapter fifteen: Exposed - Part 2

Sango sat up all night, softly crying. Not only had she lost the only job she was good at, but the trust she once had for Miroku, whatever feelings she had been ripped from her, and were now lost, and shattered. 'Why?' Sango asked herself mentally. 'How could he? How?' She sniffled.

Kagome had gone to bed hours ago, well, tried to. Sango's sniffing, and sobs kept her up all night, she wanted to walk over to her friend's cot so badly and just hold her, but she thought it was best if she pulled through this mainly on her own. That meant, Kagome would help her when she needed it most, not every waking moment. Kagome herself had been incredibly shocked at Miroku's response. She had thought he would have sided with Sango almost instantly. He had even said he really wanted Naraku gone, so why hadn't he used the opportunity? This whole matter confused Kagome to no end. She finally fell asleep at about 3:00 in the morning, or so she guessed anyways.

XxXxXx

Kagome woke to hearing Sango still sniffling. Kagome sat up, propping herself up with her elbow, and rubbed her eyes, trying to get some sleep out of them. When she finally could see straight, she hobbled over to Sango, and gently hugged her. Sango rested her head on Kagome's shoulder, seeking comfort.

"Were you honestly up crying all night?" Kagome asked.

Sango nodded.

"Come on Sango, cheer up, the Sango I know wouldn't let this get to her! She'd find one way or another to fix things, or at least deal with it, not cry all day." Sango was silent.

"Come on girl, we'd better get going, don't want to be late for our first job! You even get to wear a new dress." The two stood up, and picked their undergarments from the clothes line outside the shack, and began to dress.

Kagome tried to think of something to get Sango to cheer up. Maybe she could go to that small city she had seen a ways away from their shack. She could get Kaede to come with her. She wondered what there might be there, and how to buy the stuff, they were slaves after all, and thus had no money. Maybe she could borrow some from Inuyasha, and repay him later. But she already owed him so much… She decided to just let it drop, and deal with it when the time came.

The two walked in pure silence to the bus stop. This time, there was no one there at all to say 'Hi.' Or anything. Kagome pondered the situation at hand. She really didn't know what was going on. She hadn't been there that long, and didn't know if there were any holidays or anything. However, she highly doubted they got days off. Maybe they were just early. For the life of her, she couldn't find a reasonable enough answer. Maybe Kaede would know.

The bus pulled up about ten minutes later, and still no other slaves had come to the bus stop. Kagome decided to just leave Sango be, and not question her she was still fairly upset. The two boarded the bus, with some difficulty, credit being Sango's crutches. She couldn't fit them through the isle way. Kaede was very patient however, so there weren't any problems. Kagome was thoroughly crept out there weren't any people on the bus besides them! What was with this? Not being able to take the emptiness any longer, Kagome burst out,

"Where is everyone!" She shouted.

"Child, please. There is no need to yell! I may be old, but that does not mean I am deaf, far from it actually."

Kagome laughed. "Sorry Kaede, but really where is everyone?"

"What do ye mean? It is 9:00, everyone is at their jobs now!"

"Excuse me!"

"So in other words, we're just beyond late."

"Pretty much, I'll hurry child, but it won't do ye much good, you'll just be slightly less late."

"Whatever is fine, Kaede, thank-you."

Kaede whispered so only Kagome could hear.

"Child, is Sango still mourning the events of last night?"

"Yes, and I don't know what to do to cheer her up! I was thinking maybe I could get something in that city down in the other castle grounds." Kagome said, also whispering.

"That is a wonderful idea, child! Do ye need me to drive ye?"

"Yes Kaede, that would be very kind of you."

"Okay then, but ye will need to get to the bus stop no later than four, and I will drop ye off there, and pick ye up at five, is that alright?"

"Yes, perfect, thank you Kaede!"

Kagome bid good-bye to Kaede, and Sango and Kagome got off of the bus. They opened the door to the maid sector, with Kagome's key card again. They crept down the halls, seeing just how late they really were, about three hours!

Kagome ran to Jaken's office, and quickly explained why they were late, which was a complete lie, but Jaken wouldn't have known. They had said that Sango had broken her ankle, and the doctor who specialized, had been busy, and they used a different doctor, and her screwed it up, so they had to wait another hour, and then got it fixed. Jaken reluctantly excused Kagome and Sango, remembering what his lord had told him. His glowing red eyes still gave him nightmares.

Sango was assigned to the kitchen, and was to help clean, carry orders, and cook, if at all necessary. Kagome thought that was weird for a maid's job, but then again, she also thought it was weird how there was a city in the middle of the castle grounds. And the fact that slaves could wear whatever they wanted to.

Kagome gave a good-bye hug to Sango, and then walked off quickly to her supply closet, and then Inuyasha's room.

Kagome lightly knocked on the door to Inuyasha's room, and opened it, expecting a real mess. However, for one of the many times today, she was surprised. There wasn't a speck of dust in his room. Spotless. Kagome sighed happily, and decided to look for Inuyasha and ask him what was going on.

"Lord Inuyasha! Lord Inuyasha! Where are you?" Kagome shouted. She walked all over the room, looking for him, and hit a dead end. Man, his room was almost like a maze, there was one door after another! She decided to turn back, because the hallway was getting dark, obviously, had he wanted to see her, he wouldn't have been all the way back there. Still, she wondered what was behind that door, or even if she could find her way back. She finally convinced herself it would be rude to go any further, and seeing as how she was on thin ice, turned around. Creak! Kagome spun around. She could have sworn that the door had just opened. But, it was closed tight. She heard a soft, and low growl from behind her.

"Who's there?" Kagome turned again. She quickly thought it best to get out of there right away. She ran down many different chambers, opening and closing the doors tightly behind her. She kept hearing that creaking noise behind her. What was going on?

Kagome's toe hit, a crack in the floor, and she fell to the cold, cement ground. Where was she? There was no possible way she was still in Inuyasha's room, was there? Kagome snapped herself out of her own thoughts as she heard another low growl, she couldn't pinpoint the location, but she sure as hell didn't want whatever it was get to her.

Kagome ran into a dead end. She heard footsteps nearing her, accompanied by that same bone-chilling growl.

"Inuyasha…where are you?"

The slave girl decided to chance it, and run out of the ended hallway. She noticed a large green door at the side of a wall, and she also saw giant claw marks on it, taking her chances, she ducked into the room, hoping to get out of that dank hallway.

Bewildered, she found herself back in Inuyasha's main room.

"What the…?"

Kagome suddenly felt strong arms wrap around her waist from behind, and she let out a shriek. Still not knowing who had grabbed her, Kagome grabbed for the nearest thing and hit her opponent square upside the head with a baseball bat.

"Ouch! What the hell was that for!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Inuyasha! Oh, I'm so sorry! There was just this thing, it was chasing me, and I was scared so I…"

"Hit me?"

"Yeah."

"What were you doing back there anyways? Or I should phrase this, _how_ did you get back there?"

"What do you mean? I was just looking for you, and there was a door, so I figured you might have gone back there, I had no idea there were so many doors! And I didn't know I wasn't supposed to go back there."

Inuyasha rubbed his head where there was a bump forming.

"Man, you hit hard!"

"I said I was sorry!"

"So was that you chasing me back there then?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah, although, I didn't know it was you." He said.

Kagome sighed, and relaxed a great deal. She looked around the room, and suddenly remembered what she had meant to ask him in the first place.

"So, why is the room still clean?"

XxXxXx

Sango had a difficult time going back and forth through the kitchen, cleaning, or taking orders, so the chef just gave her a cooking position. Sango was grateful; she wouldn't have done a very good job at cleaning, much less taking orders. Buts she could handle cooking. Everything was going fine, until Miroku came in. Apparently, he and the head chef, Hachi, were very good friends. Sango paid no mind to him, she wouldn't even glance his way. He had actually said 'Hi,' to her, but she just limped over to get another cooking utensil.

Miroku walked over to Hachi, and said,

"I thought she was supposed to be a maid?"

"Yes, she was, but we have enough cleaning in this kitchen, and she seemed like a great chef, she has quite a knack for it, you know." Hachi said.

"I see."

"Miroku, why so melancholy?"

"Come, I will tell you."

Miroku led Hachi out into the hall, and then to his office.

"Sit."

Hachi sat down, eager to hear what his master had to say.

"Hachi, you know how she got to your division, right?"

"Yes sir, wasn't it because she attacked Master Naraku?"

"Yes, that's what I thought. But after the building's debris had been cleared, they found a video camera, however, a lesser demon took the tape. It seemed to be a bee-like demon, very oddly colored if you ask me."

"So, what is the point here, Master Miroku? I am afraid I don't understand."

"Hachi, why would anyone want to get rid of that tape? There is a theory that those specific types of demons can be controlled. And those demons are not native to the Western Kingdom Lands."

Hachi thought a minute, putting two and two together. "So you mean to tell me, that you believed Naraku's story, over Sango's? So that's why she has seemed so tense lately. You know, she butchered that roast and even cut through the bones like they were butter, and this was with a regular knife!"

Miroku sweat-dropped, before he could do any apologizing, two things had to happen, one would be that Sango would have to calm down, and the second thing would be that Miroku needed to recover that tape.

XxXxXx

Naraku sat in his chambers, watching a mirror. The mirror belonged to a completely white child, who seemed to glow in the dim light. He laughed manically. Watching the two couples was most amusing to him. Their life was like one giant soap opera. And he would be the one to stir up the tragedies.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

A/N: Well, there you have it! Another chapter! So sorry for the long wait. I got quite a few e-mails about it actually.. Sorry again! It's just that I have this all saved in one document, and I really HATE having to separate and save it just to load one chapter... Dx Well, hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things and update!


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Falling For You

Chapter sixteen: Falling For You

"What do you mean? You said to try and not get my room messy, so I didn't."

"You actually listened? Wow, that's an improvement."

"Feh."

"So then, can I go back home? Or is there something you need?" Kagome asked.

"Oh, no, you're not going anywhere, you're going to tell me why you were so late today!" Inuyasha said, picking her up bridal style, and throwing her down onto a couch.

"I don't have to tell you anything." She said, wanting to keep Sango's affairs fairly private.

"Yes, you do." He said, smirking.

"I am sworn to secrecy." Kagome said, pulling an imaginary zipper over her mouth.

"Well, then I guess I'll just have to make you tell me." Kagome's eyes widened, she didn't exactly know what to expect, she didn't know the guy all too well, but it seemed like she did, for some reason anyway. Inuyasha got on top of Kagome's small form, and held her legs down with his knees, so there wouldn't be any kicking.

"What are you doing?" She shouted, trying to struggle out of his hold, but to no avail.

"Still not going to tell me?"

Kagome shook her head, saying no. An evident grin appeared on Inuyasha's face. Inuyasha began to tickle Kagome lightly. She struggled to stifle her fit of giggles. She was so ticklish it was rather odd. But Kagome stayed true to her word, for a while anyways. Inuyasha began to pick up the pace, and grabbed her waist, and continued her prolonged torture. Finally Kagome gave in.

"Ah! Okay! Okay! I'll tell! I'll tell! Just…stop…!" She giggled.

"Stop what?" Inuyasha said, who now had a hold of one of her feet.

"Tickling me!!!" She screamed, accompanied by rapid laughter.

"Say, Inuyasha is so much better than me."

"Inuyasha… is so much worse than me." Inuyasha tickled her fiercely, and Kagome gave in again.

"Inuyasha is so much better than me."

"Say, you are the most handsome, fastest, and strongest."

"I am the most beautiful, fastest, and strongest."

"Kagome, don't make me!"

"Kagome, don't make me!" She repeated. Inuyasha sighed, and figured that was as far as he could push her. Inuyasha got off of her, and almost immediately she bolted from the couch, and made a break for the door. She was having fun with this game, obviously.

"Catch me if you can!" She giggled.

Inuyasha was getting a bit frustrated, all he wanted to know was why she had been late, and she was making into this huge deal, what was with her? Something important must have happened. Right now, he had to catch Kagome before she hurt herself.

Kagome ran around the room crazily, jumping over beanbags, chairs, and even small tables.

"Come on Kagome! This is getting old!" Inuyasha said, the only thing separating them was his bed. He moved to the left, and she moved to her left. He moved to the right, and she moved with him. Then Kagome decided it would be fun to go out onto the balcony, she was acting like a little child. Kagome burst open the glass door, and ran out onto the balcony, however, running backwards on a balcony you've never been on before might not have been the best idea.

"Kagome! Be careful! You could fall ov—!"

Kagome screamed, she was holding onto the railing of the balcony, and she was easily fifty feet in the air. She noticed the thin metal rail wasn't meant to hold much more than sixty pounds, and was giving way.

"Inuyasha! Help!"

"Hachi, I want you to look after Sango, and see if she'll ever forgive me. I really think that she was telling me the truth. It's just a tough choice, Hachi, do you understand? I don't want _anything_ bad to happen to her that can be prevented, or, my friend, I'm afraid you won't be happy for quite a while

Hachi, fully understanding his master's request, nodded, and hurried off back to his job.

Miroku sighed, and grabbed for his desk stress ball. He had no idea why he kept it, but it did make him feel better. Miroku sat in silence for a while, pondering how he was going to get Sango to forgive him. He had just sided with Naraku, not even bothering to ask for her side of the story. Sango did have some good points. Had Naraku really just wanted to use self-defense, he could have knocked her out by the pressure points in her neck, everyone in their ranks knew that, it was common sense. But the thing that puzzled Miroku the most, was that Naraku said that Sango had passed away during their battle, what was that all about? And another thing that occurred to Miroku that made him feel like the stupidest guy in existence; was that Naraku wasn't even supposed to be checking in on that sector.

Miroku slammed his fist down on his desk in certain anger, wishing he could take back everything he had done to Sango, switching her jobs, yelling at her, everything. The amount of guilt he felt was tearing at his very being. The need to hold Sango in his arms was so strong; he could almost feel her in his arms, saying that everything would be all right. As for now, everything wasn't all right. He had to find that damned videotape! Then he could force Naraku into exile with a reason. Inuyasha probably would have sided with his friend about getting rid of Naraku no matter what the tape showed. Miroku decided he would ask Inuyasha about it now. He also needed to discuss the matter about Kikyo. She was coming for a visit in three weeks, and wanted to set up 'arrangements', Miroku had tried to tell her that Inuyasha had made up his mind and moved on, but she insisted.

Miroku picked up his phone and dialed the investigating team.

"Hello, investigating sector here,"

"Hey, Shippo?"

"The team is not here right now, if you would like to leave a message for one of the main investigators, press one now."

Miroku, slightly annoyed, hit one.

"If you would like to speak with 'Shippo', please hit—"

Beep. Miroku hit one before the stupid machine could finish.

"You have chosen to leave a message for Shippo, leave your message, name, and number after the beep."

Beep!

"Hey Shippo, it's Miroku, call me back as soon as you can, thanks." Miroku said, and then hung up abruptly. He needed to tell Inuyasha about all of this, after all, he was Inuyasha's advisor, it was his job to 'advise', and that's just what he was going to do.

"Inuyasha!!!!!" Kagome screamed, she lost her fingering, and began her decent downwards.

"Kagome!!" Inuyasha, without a second thought, jumped off the balcony, and ran down the side of the castle. Luckily, he made it down way before she did. From down there, he had a pretty good view of her panties. Quickly shaking the perverted thoughts out of his head, Inuyasha leapt into the air and caught Kagome in one swift movement.

"Whoa, thanks Inuyasha!" Kagome said before passing out. Inuyasha sighed, and jumped back up to the balcony. Inuyasha barely had time to place Kagome on his bed before there was a knock at the door. He tucked the covers over her shoulders before he responded.

"Who is it?" Inuyasha demanded.

"Miroku."

"Oh, alright, come on in." Inuyasha said.

Miroku opened the doorway, to witness a girl sleeping in his lord's covers.

"Uh, was I interrupting something?" He asked.

Inuyasha blushed slightly, realizing what Miroku was referring to. Yeah, having a girl asleep in your bed would give one that impression.

"No! Miroku! I wouldn't do that!" Inuyasha said loudly.

"Okay! Okay! I trust she won't wake up then?" Miroku asked.

"She shouldn't, why?"

"Because, I have some things I need to tell you."

Inuyasha nodded, _finally_ someone was going to tell him something. Unlike Kagome over there, who had almost gotten herself killed because she wouldn't tell him. The thought of losing Kagome made Inuyasha shiver, he wanted her near him; that much he was sure of.

"So what's going on, Miroku?"

"Well we have two issues at hand here. Do you want the first one or the second one?"

"I don't care, whichever one is better news than the other."

"Okay then, well, there was a breach in the demonic testing lab yesterday, we don't know who did it, or anything."

"That's the better news?! What in the hell could be worse than that!?" Inuyasha practically screamed. Unknown to either men; Kagome was listening to the whole thing, she had woken up at the sound of Inuyasha's screaming when Miroku came.

"Well, the worse news is that Kikyo is coming for a 'visit' in three weeks or less."

"Oh. That is worse news."

Kagome cracked an eye open, and listened hard, trying to recall who Kikyo was. Then it came to her. It was the bitch that had broken her nose!

Kagome was pretty weary about Kikyo's return, she hadn't liked that woman since the first second she laid eyes on her. That hate only grew after she had broken her nose. Which happened to still be broken. Kagome relieved her mind of the complaints, and focused on what Miroku and Inuyasha were saying.

"Didn't you tell her that I didn't want to see her again?"

"Yes, about five times actually. I don't know what you even saw in her before anyways, I mean what could have possibly possessed you to like her? Besides, I think Kagome would make a much better bride than Kikyo anyhow."

"What?!"

"Oh come now, lord Inuyasha, surely you know you love her. It is quite obvious you know. For crying out loud, you let her sleep in your bed! And you let her have some of the most expensive dresses that our designers have made!"

Kagome felt really guilty about the dresses now. She was certain she owed much more than her life to Inuyasha, seeing as how he had saved her. How could she repay him? He already owned just about everything there was, even her. Kagome was also flattered that Miroku thought highly enough of her to compare her to one of royal status, even if she was a conceited self-absorbed loser. Royalty was royalty.

"Inuyasha, what are you going to do? We certainly don't need Kikyo breathing down our necks, and the formula from the lab is nowhere to be found."

"Give it time, Miroku, they can always figure it out again, and as for Kikyo, call her and tell her she is not permitted on these grounds." Kagome silently cheered from her listening spot from under the covers, nothing was going to get in between her, and her Inuyasha! …Her Inuyasha? Where had that come from? Was she honestly falling for this dog demon lord? It was very possible.

"But lord Inuyasha, she could declare war on your kingdom."

"Let her, they come form a lesser kingdom, and couldn't possibly take down our army."

"But Inuyasha! Her widowed mother has married into a much higher class, they now equal our status."

Inuyasha paused for a moment, then sighed in defeat. "Fine, let her come." Kagome's heart sank.

"Okay, Miroku, let Kikyo come, and send as many search teams to find that formula as you possibly can, the first team to obtain that formula splits a three million reward pool, is that clear?"

"Yes sir, have a good day."

"Oh, Miroku."

"Yes?"

"Cut the 'sir' and 'lord' crap, you know I won't allow friends to call me that."

"Right Inuyasha, it just slipped my mind, sorry." Miroku said, and then slipped out the door to perform his lord's wishes.

Kagome decided this was a good a time as any to 'wake-up'. Inuyasha came over, and sat by her side.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, I'm fine." Kagome said, sitting up, and getting ready to leave. Inuyasha held her down.

"You still haven't told me why you were late!" He said, gritting his teeth. This was getting really old, really fast.

"Fine, but will you do me a favor?" She asked.

"It depends, now tell me why you were late Kagome! It's not that hard!"

"Alright already! I just woke up late is all."

"That's _it_? _That's_ why you were late?" Inuyasha asked, he could hardly believe his ears, there had to be something else.

"Why did you get up so late?"

"I just forgot to set my alarm, it's that simple."

Inuyasha could sense Kagome lying from a mile away. He decided to play along though.

"Something tells me you're not telling the whole story. It wouldn't happen to be linked with that Naraku incident, would it?"

"You're not going to let this drop, are you?"

"Nope, now answer me."

"Fine. Yes, it is, Sango was guarding the lab when Naraku demanded entrance, he attacked her, and she was just doing her job by attacking him, so he knocked her over, she couldn't win, and he ended up making the whole place fall down, and then Sango went to tell this all to Miroku, and turn Naraku in, but Miroku didn't believe her, but he believed Naraku, so he fired her off of the defense squad, and put her in this maid job, and so she kept me up all night crying, so I accidentally slept in, okay? I'm sorry."

Kagome said in a rush. Inuyasha's head was spinning. This was all new to him. He really didn't like Naraku, and he knew Miroku didn't either. The only reason Naraku had been hired in the first place was because of his tactics, and he would have proven useful, however, now that he had betrayed his own kingdom, he proved to be a threat.

"I'm sorry Inuyasha, I'll go now."

"Wait, Kagome, you didn't do anything wrong. Why are you so upset?" Kagome looked away.

"Inuyasha, I really don't know where to begin. I'll think about it tonight, and let you know tomorrow. In the mean time, have a nice day." Kagome said.

"One more thing, what was that favor you needed?"

"Do you know how I could get some money? I need to get something for a friend."

"Yeah, how much do you need?" Inuyasha asked.

"Inuyasha, I couldn't I already owe you so much… I can't."

"Yes, you can, now what do you want to buy?"

"I'm not sure, I was going to go look around the market."

"You think 500 dollars would cover it?" He asked.

Kagome's eyes widened. "That much? That's a lot!" Inuyasha just handed it to her like it was absolutely nothing.

Kagome walked over to Inuyasha, and have him another hug, this time, Inuyasha surprised Kagome by actually returning the hug. Kagome felt warmed by the abrupt act of kindness, and skipped slightly out the door.


	17. Chapter 17: Shopping

**A/N: So sorry for not updating! To be honest, I have a lot of this story written—more than most of you would probably care to read, but it's on one word document, and I have to break them up onto separate documents to upload them. And I am lazy. Very, very lazy :P But here is the next chapter, and hopefully I will remember to put up some others!**

Chapter seventeen: $hopping

Kagome ran out of the main castle as quickly as she could, with the money she had in her hands. Kaede stayed true to her words, and was waiting patiently at the bus stop, and no one else was there, either.

Kagome boarded the bus quickly, and Kaede hit the gas, hard, causing Kagome to stumble backwards slightly, as she lost her footing.

"Kaede! Watch it!" She scolded.

"Sorry child, we just have to get there soon, ye were late, and I might be late for my next bus shift."

"Oh, sorry then, and thank you for doing this."

Kaede nodded, and took a sharp turn. Kagome bit her tongue, she knew the old lady meant well, plus it was basically her own fault, she had been late, it was nice of Kaede to even bother to take her to the city. Kagome glanced out the window to look at the seemingly endless poppy fields. They looked like little fallen clouds resting on the surface of the earth. She found it rather odd that plants could even grow in such a climate; the surrounding area was 100% desert. The kingdom must use a lot of resources to get enough water to grow anything. Kagome sighed, she wondered what she would get Sango to cheer her up. Inuyasha gave her five hundred dollars, so her budget wasn't unlimited, but it would do very nicely, she desperately wanted to pay him back, but didn't know how. She pondered this for a second, she felt like Santa going on a mini-spree. She chuckled, imagining herself in a giant Santa costume, having crying little kids sit on her lap while they got their picture taken. She laughed aloud. Kagome always wondered what the other world was like, the free one. A world where there was freedom and equality spread throughout the land. One not ruled by lords, or kings of any sort. They did have a government, or so she had heard. Kagome was once again whipped out of her thoughts by hitting her head on the back of another seat on the bus.

"Child, we're here, I'll be here to pick you up at 5:00 PM, don't be late child!" Kaede warned.

Kagome said good-bye to Kaede, and stepped off the bus, only to have her senses over ridden with the scent of smog, grime, alcohol, and many other unpleasant things.

Kagome crossed the road, and looked at all of the shops. There were food stores, that Kagome ignored, she wanted to get her friend something special, that would last a long time. Minutes seemed to pass by like seconds, there were so many sights to see in this city, and Kagome wouldn't be able to see half of them. Kagome finally decided to pull into a small trinket shop.

The store was really cozy, it almost felt like she really was Christmas shopping. Kagome glanced at the small displays, and items on the shelves, but none of them seemed like Sango's style. The store clerk looked at her in question, but Kagome shrugged it off, and continued browsing. Kagome really had to restrain herself, as she liked everything she saw, but she was shopping for Sango, not herself. Kagome sighed in defeat, wished the saleswoman a good day, and walked glumly out the door, causing the little bell to ring on her way out.

It took Kagome nearly thirty minutes, and she still hadn't seen anything she liked for Sango. She had, however, bought herself a cute fuzzy diary, and pen for only 6.99. It was just so cute, and Kagome just couldn't help herself. The girl sat on a bench, and looked around. She was about to give up when a pet store caught her eye. 'Perfect!' She thought. Kagome rushed over to the store, and began to look at every little animal there; they were all so cute! One in particular caught her eye; it was a small cat. A most unusual thing too, it was a beige cream color, with two big red eyes. Its ears had black tips to them, and so did its two tails. She assumed it was a demon cat, more or less.

"Can I help you, miss?" The salesman asked.

"Yes, um, how much is this cat here?"

"That thing? It's been here for years, we were actually going to put it to sleep. Are you sure you want it?"

"That's terrible! What is wrong with her?"

"It is a demon, that fact scares most people away, it doesn't seem to get along with too many people either."

"Can I hold her for a minute, and decide for myself?"

"Sure, please take her if you like—free of charge."

Kagome eyed the man suspiciously, but thought better of it. He took the small cat out of the small cage it had been kept in. Kagome laughed slightly as the cat demon hissed, and snapped at the man, the cat jumped angrily from him, and into Kagome's lap with much grace.

"Hey there baby! Aren't you just the cutest?" Kagome laughed, toying with the demon cat. The animal gave no objections, and purred, chasing Kagome's fingers across the floor as she moved them.

"Awe, Sango will just love you!" Kagome cooed. The cat demon bounced up into Kagome's lap and snuggled with her newfound friend. Kagome stood up, and picked the cat up, and placed her on the counter.

"Excuse me, sir, but how much would that bow, and bells be? Oh, and maybe a cage too?"

"Well, I can just give you the bow and bell honestly, they come with the animal if you want, and then the cage will be 45.63." He said.

Kagome rummaged through the only pocket in her kimono, and pulled out a fifty-dollar bill. The sales clerk eyed it warily, and then put the bill into the cash register, and began to pull out change, but Kagome stopped him.

"No, it's alright, just keep the change, I just need the things in a hurry, I'm going to miss my bus!"

The man wasted no time in pulling out the box for the cage, and took a red bow, and two silver bells attached by strings, and handed them to Kagome. She grabbed them, and ran out the door, glancing at the large clock in the middle of the city square. It read, 4:55. Kagome moved as fast as her legs would carry her, with her lugging the huge cage and trying to grasp the slipping bow, bells and diary, with the cat demon following suit.

With not a second to spare, Kagome put her things down at the bus stop, as Kaede pulled up with her bus. The cat demon stared blankly at Kagome and mewed, trying to say something to its master.

"What is it girl?" Kagome asked. The cat pointed its head in the direction of the approaching bus.

"Awe, it's just a bus, no need to worry, um… Hmm, I guess I'll have to figure out a name for you, huh?" Kagome smiled.

The cat mewed happily, and then much to Kagome's surprise, leapt onto her shoulder. Kagome regained her balance, and then smiled, picking up her box and other things. She slowly made her way up the steps of the bus, and smiled at Kaede.

"Looks like Sango should be happy, no?" Kaede grinned.

Kagome nodded, and placed the box on a seat in the front, and Kagome sat on the seat parallel to it. She informed Kaede of all of the things she saw, and what she had experienced, while Kaede would occasionally nod, or reply.

Kagome sat there, petting the cat's two tails absent-mindedly, looking out the window. Her conversation with Kaede had long ended, and that resulted in Kagome being bored out of her mind. Fortunately, the bus ride was coming to an end. Soon Kagome found herself exiting the bus, and walking cautiously over to the place she called home. Kagome peered in the screen door, checking for Sango. Another bonus, Sango was nowhere in sight, meaning Kagome had at least another hour until her friend returned. First thing first, Kagome had to set up the cage for the demon. She ripped open the box in a hurry, quickly dumping the contents onto the floor, like a small child opening their birthday presents.

Much to Kagome's dismay, the directions were in a completely different language, and there were many different pieces to this puzzle. She sighed, and began piecing together the cage, while the cat demon searched and explored its new home.

---------

Sango was busy sautéing some onions, and peppers when Hachi walked back into the kitchen. There was a rather large, and out of place butcher knife sitting well within the demon slayer's reach. The raccoon demon eyed it warily, looking fairly stressed, and continued glancing over at Sango every five minutes, as if making sure she was still there. Where could she possibly get to in such little time? Her ankle iwas/i broken after all. Finally, after the fifteenth time he looked over at her, she snapped.

"Hachi! What are you doing? What's going on? Tell me inow! /i" She exclaimed in fury, clutching the butcher knife.

Hachi stumbled back a few steps, and accidentally placed his hand on a very hot frying pan.

"Ouch!! Oh, owee!!!" He cried.

"Hachi!" Sango screamed in a warning tone, limping towards him.

"Oh, oh!! My hand! Sango, Master Miroku merely asked me to…owe…look after you…owe." He said.

"Well stop! It's getting annoying! That creep Miroku probably couldn't care less about me anyways! He'd probably think I was ilying/i or something anyways." She said in an extremely bitter tone.

"Sango, maybe you should take the rest of the day off, you seem just a little tense." Hachi suggested, backing away from the angered woman. Suddenly her facial expression changed completely. There was now a happy little smile gracing her lips, along with starry eyes that could make anyone's heart melt on the spot.

"Oh! Thank you sir!" Sango exclaimed, hobbling over to Hachi, and giving him a bear hug.

Hachi blushed, and backed away in terror, fearing what his master would do to him for hugging his lady.

"Um, your welcome Sango, now go before you miss the six `o clock bus."

Sango dashed out of the kitchen as fast as she possibly could in crutches, and headed to sign out for the day.

There were only a couple of the names on the sheet for signing out for the day, and Sango immediately recognized one name; Higurashi, Kagome. Sango was slightly jealous of her friend's early dismissal, but thought better of it when she recalled everything Kagome had been through. Sango herself had been through the same thing, she had lost all of her family too, but she had at least been able to go to their funeral. Plus, she had many friends to pull her through, and wasn't beaten nearly as harshly or as many times as Kagome had when she had gotten here. These thoughts brought Sango back to her past as she absent-mindedly walked out the door and to the bus stop. She missed her brother probably the most; he had always been so nice to her, unlike so many other younger brothers. He had looked up to her, and she wasn't even there to protect him when he needed her the most. Sango put shame on herself for not saving her brother, but what had happened in the past cannot be changed, it was written in stone now. Still, she wished she had a second chance with her family.

Sango forced her thoughts to a dark corner in her mind; she really didn't want to relive those horrors and tragedies in her past. She tapped her foot as to try and pass time by entertaining herself with pointless little games. At long last the bus finally approached the stop, and Sango boarded. There were very few other people on the bus, and she was glad, she didn't feel like dodging countless people and such.

--------

Kagome put the final touches on the metal cage, and admired her work. The cage looked almost like the same thing on the box, she congratulated herself for actually making the right shape. Like it was said previously, she wasn't one who normally figured things out right away.

Kagome stood, and stretched her limbs; they were all bunched up from sitting on the floor for nearly an hour. The small cat trotted along, and rubbed its soft, furry head on Kagome's leg. It tickled enough to cause Kagome to reflexively kick, startling the poor creature. It darted to the other side of the room, and looked at Kagome with accusing, bright red eyes. Kagome laughed, and walked over to the cat and picked it up, petting it's silky smooth fur.

The girl rummaged around for the bow and bells that she had obtained, and tied them around the cat's neck. The creature tried to shake it off, and ended up making the silver bells jingle. The cat looked at Kagome in horror as if it had just completely shaved her fur right off.

"I'll take it off when Sango gets here, okay? In the mean time, you just pretend that you like it." Kagome laughed, and went outside to go do some laundry.


	18. Chapter 18: Old Friends

**A/N (Again): This chapter is relatively short, so I'm putting this one up, and possibly another one soon. (Not a **_**whole**_** lot happens in this chapter..bah.)**

Chapter eighteen: Old Friends

Kagome hurriedly scooped the cat into the cage, much to the creature's disliking; she could see Sango walking home from the bus stop. The cat mewed loudly, showing signs of pretest, but Kagome just gave it some catnip she had seen growing alongside of their hut. The cat fell into a daze of mixed emotions and pretty swirling colors, and was quiet. Kagome snickered a bit, and pushed the cage into a corner, and draped a light towel over it.

Sango opened the door, and trudged inside, and flopped down on her cot. Kagome studied her friend and decided now would be a good time for cheering her up.

"Hey Sango."

"What?" She asked irritably.

Kagome backed off a little bit, but just a little grouchiness wasn't going to stop her— not now.

"I've got a surprise for you!" Kagome added cheerily.

"Great." Sango said sarcastically, and rolling over so her back was facing Kagome.

Kagome shuffled over to the towel-covered-cage, and removed the high cat from its metal prison. She sighed, the cat was still too high to do much, maybe four sprigs of the stuff was a bit much.

"I think you'll like it, look." Kagome said, stretching her arms out, as to give Sango the cat. Sango just stayed facing the wall, paying no mind to Kagome whatsoever.

"Sango, would it kill you to at least _try_ and look?" Kagome said, getting annoyed at Sango's lack of interest. The girl just lay on her bed, silent. Kagome groaned, and pondered how she could get Sango's attention for a while. She just came to the agreement that she should move Sango, yes, that should work quite nicely.

Kagome pulled on Sango's shoulder with her free hand, the other holding the still high kitty. Finally, Sango gave in.

"What Kagome? What?" Sango asked, a flare in her tone. All of that disappeared when she saw what Kagome was holding.

"Kirara?"

-------

Miroku sat with Shippo in the investigation office, watching the only piece of evidence that would show them who had taken the formula, be taken away. Shippo rewound the tape, and watched it again. He frowned; this wasn't getting them anywhere, yet Miroku insisted that they watch it until they found something.

"There!" Miroku shouted, startling the fox demon, he fumbled with the remote a second, and then paused the screen.

"What? I don't see anything." Shippo said, turning his head in all directions, trying to figure out what Miroku was talking about.

"Shippo, how could you not see it? You're the best investigator on this squad." Miroku said. When he saw that Shippo was still confused he explained.

"Look at the dirt, see the direction it's blowing in? And that's the same direction the bee demon was flying in. Those things have a hell of a hard time flying against the wind."

"So?"

"So, that means, that the demon was going in that direction. It narrows down the places we have to search." Miroku exclaimed excitedly.

Shippo shrugged his shoulders, rolled his eyes, and let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Miroku, you've really been losing sleep on this, haven't you?"

"Well, what was stolen was only the most expensive research we have ever funded, but that's not too big a deal, is it?" Miroku mocked. He was clearly frustrated, and Shippo was a bit intimidated by the madman.

"Shippo, don't ask questions, just send out five more search teams to examine the west side of the castle, _now_." He said sharply. Shippo did as he was told, and rushed out of the dark room to fetch some more search parties.

Miroku put his head in his hands, and wiped of an invisible sheet of grime off his face. He was so desperately tired; he could just fall over right there. But his conscience wouldn't let him rest peacefully until he figured this out.

------

Sango leapt up from her cot and quickly stole the cat demon from Kagome's grasp. Sango twirled around the room, wincing slightly whenever she used her bad foot, but was too happy to let that stop her.

"Kirara! I can't believe it's really you! Oh, I missed you so much!" Sango sung, cradling the cat demon she called Kirara. The small cat looked lazily to its owner, and purred a bit, the effects of the catnip beginning to wear off already.

"Kagome! Where did you find her?"

"She was in a pet shop, I thought you would like something to cheer you up, so here's your present." Kagome said, laughing at the awkward coincidence.

"This is so wonderful! I just can't believe it! Kirara was my cat back when, you know, I still had my family." Sango said, her bangs covering her sorrow-filled eyes.

"Awe, come on now, Sango, I'm sure your family wouldn't want you upset! You've had enough going on! Come on, let's go get some dinner early today, maybe we could get some cupcakes…" Kagome said, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

The two girls linked arms, and began out the door, their new cat on its previous owner's shoulder, and walked off into the twilight.

-------

Inuyasha was in his darker chambers taking much of his frustration out on a punching bag. (You know, the chambers Kagome got lost in.) He continuously hit the sandbag, until the seams began to rip, then he stopped, and called for a servant to come and replace it with another one. Inuyasha's thoughts were so muddled with confusion, desire, anxiety, and more confusion. What was he going to do about Kikyo? His feelings were completely gone for her now, well sort of. Inuyasha began thinking of all of the good times they had together, and it only confused him further. Now that he thought about it, Kikyo did look a lot like Kagome, and vice versa, but they were two completely different people. Kikyo was the type who was always looking her best, and prim, and proper, basically a perfectionist. Kagome on the other hand, she didn't really care too much about what others thought of her, and was independent, and headstrong, she would lash out if necessary, and was shy if needed. Both would do the kingdom some good. But he couldn't marry them both. This was going to require some more thought. He would have to wait until Kikyo arrived.

The servant came in, lugging a huge sandbag, much heavier, and more durable than Inuyasha's previous one. However, the servant wasn't very muscled, and was having great difficulty even scooting across the floor. Inuyasha watched in amusement for a few seconds, the punching bag was easily the size of the man. Inuyasha took the sandbag from the man, and relieved him of his duty.

"That is all, you are dismissed." He said. The servant nodded, and quickly got out of the chambers.

Inuyasha continued his countless beatings on the bag, and continued to think about the many problems arising for him.


	19. Chapter 19: Old Enemies

Chapter nineteen: Old (Not) Friends

Two weeks, and six days had passed since Kagome had discovered the arrival of Inuyasha's old girlfriend.

_Dear Diary,_

_Today was the usual day, get up, clean, eat lunch; go home. Inuyasha hasn't been paying as much attention to me lately, but I guess that is to be expected. I guess I'm a spoiled slave, huh? Oh well, this is my time on Earth, and I intend to make the best of it. I vaguely remember Kikyo, but what little memories I have of her aren't very fond ones. Sango and Miroku have made up, well, somewhat anyhow. She finally gave in after he gave her surprise flowers and a small poem everyday for an entire week; I knew she couldn't be mad at him forever. Well, Sango will be working with me now; she'll be cleaning Kikyo's room while she's staying, and I'm still cleaning Inuyasha's room. Great. Well, I suppose it's not all bad, I mean, how mean could one person possibly be?_

_With love always,_

_Kagome_

----

Kagome laid the diary on her lap, and began to read all of her entries from previous nights. They were all so happy, unlike how she felt now. There was an uneasy nerve wrenching her stomach, and twisting her thoughts, as the time for Kikyo to come neared, the feelings only became deeper. A cloud passed over the silver moon, leaving barely enough lighting to fill the little window Kagome's cot was near.

The troubled slave girl tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position, alas, she found none. Deciding it was late enough just to pull off an all-nighter, Kagome went outside to take some of the dried laundry off of the lines near their hut.

Kagome and Sango had managed to keep their new dresses fairly clean, however, there were a few snags and cleaning fluid spots here and there, but those weren't all too bad.

Absentmindedly folding towels and other garments, Kagome glanced at the moon, it seemed almost haunting— in it's own melancholy way. It sent shivers down Kagome's spine; she felt like someone was watching her. It wasn't a very peaceful feeling at all. However, she just decided to ignore it. It wouldn't have made much of a difference anyhow, she herself could knock down her house, with enough force that is, so she decided to stay outside.

She glanced at the clock in the main square, in the middle of the ocean of huts. It read that it was about two in the morning. Kagome sighed; it was going to be a long three hours. She walked over to a small patch of grass struggling to grow and sat, using her two arms to prop herself up from behind. The slave looked up to the moon once again, letting its foreboding light cast down upon her. Kagome's mother had once taught her how to interpret coming events from your surroundings. For instance, when the sun sets, if the sky is red, then it signals that the weather will have more chances of being nice the next day. If the sky is red in the morning, then a wicked storm is likely to be approaching. The vibes Kagome were receiving from her surroundings were not pleasant in the least bit. It signaled chaos, hatred, battles and misery. She could have sworn she saw death as well, but ignored it. She was having enough troubles anyhow.

There was a rumble in the distance, and you could see the sky lighting up further away. Kagome ignored that as well. She enjoyed being in the rain. However, sitting out in a field during a thunderstorm probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. Kagome didn't mind though, not at all, she welcomed the sky's tears. The storm was approaching quickly. Kagome watched for another flash of lightning streaking through the ominous clouds. 'There.' She thought. 'One, two, three…' Bam! Three miles, was an estimate of how far off the storm was, which technically, wasn't very far.

About ten minutes later, Kagome was getting pelted with rain droplets, completely soaked. She too, like the sky, cried. She was just having one of those moments, when you realize something that will change your life. In her case, it was realizing the horrors in which she had been bestowed. She just couldn't imagine losing Inuyasha to Kikyo, not ever. Although, it was probably best for Inuyasha if he did marry Kikyo, she was, after all, from a royal bloodline. Her mind was torn into tiny fragments, each fragment clouding onto one of two sides: one was telling her to just give up now, and not even try; it's not like she'd win anyhow. The other side, which was barely holding onto one thought: maybe he really did like her. Only time would tell.

It was a magnificent sight. Wind and sand swirled violently, thunder and lightning clashed overhead. It was peculiar, how she hadn't even noticed this storm coming, and here it was now, overhead, thrashing about and making others listen to its tale. A sad smile graced the slave girl's face, and the rain mixed with the mud, getting her even dirtier than she already was. Rain pelted her form, making the kimono sag, and cling to her form desperately, as her hair followed the same example. Lightning struck again, behind the clock in the main square, as it chimed four times. 'Only one more hour.' Kagome thought. Kagome pulled her tired body up from the ground, defying the cursed force called gravity.

She danced everywhere, flinging mud onto huts and herself as she went. Spinning in circles, humming to herself, Kagome witnessed the flying and swirling colors mixed within the sky. In a slight daze, Kagome tripped on a small stone, and fell face first into the mud. She flipped herself over, and laughed, it was a cynical, tired laugh, not a pure, happy one.

The rain was coming to a halt; it was evident it would be coming and going throughout the day. Kagome stood slowly, not even bothering to try and get some of the mud off herself. She opened the door to her hut, and found Sango sitting there, with a worried expression on her face. The second Sango saw Kagome; she jumped up from her cot, and stumbled to hug Kagome. She didn't even hesitate when she saw the mud.

"Kagome! I'm so glad you're okay!" Sango practically shouted.

"Of course I am," Kagome said, prying Sango off of her. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"When the thunder woke me up, you were gone. Oh I was so worried Kagome! What happened anyways?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"That doesn't explain much."

"I just sat outside in the rain in the mud, is that enough explaining?"

Sango gave Kagome a slightly hurt look. "Yeah."

"I'm gonna go take a shower, you mind?" Kagome asked.

"Nope, but don't take too long, I gotta take one too."

"Got it."

Within an hour an a half, Kagome and Sango were on a crowded bus, on their way to their 'duties'. Kagome sighed, and looked to the window, where she saw an even duller scene, gray skies, and rain. Great.

The two walked silently to the locker room, and took two towels to dry themselves off a little, before going to their tasks. Neither of them spoke on the way up the stairs, or even at the supply closet. Bother of them knew it wasn't going to be a very pleasant day, but they had no choice in the matter. They both trudged to the rooms they were supposed to be tending to and paused. They both took a last glance at each other. Kagome spoke the only words said by either of them.

"I'll see you soon, Sango." Kagome said, pushing through the door. Sango nodded, and pushed open her door.

What Kagome saw shocked her, Kikyo was nowhere in sight. But, she had to look worried, for Inuyasha's sake, he didn't want him to hate her just because she didn't like Kikyo.

Trying to keep a steady tone, Kagome asked, "Inuyasha…! Where's Kikyo…?"

"She's not here yet." He said, staring out the window. His tone was unusually saddened and distracted. Kagome felt a little pang of guilt, but the happiness was welling inside of her that Kikyo hadn't arrived yet.

"Inuyasha… Are you alright?" She asked, slightly more serious this time. Inuyasha didn't respond, just continued to stare out the window. Kagome got a bit annoyed, that he wasn't paying her the least bit of attention. She walked over to the large armchair he was sitting in, and sat on the armrest.

"I know you're sad Kikyo's not here yet, but lord Inuyasha, you could at least note that I exist!" Kagome said angrily, knowing addressing him with a respective title would catch his attention more than anything.

Inuyasha was still unresponsive, completely to Kagome's displeasure. He wasn't even facing her now; his back was turned to her. She reached out, and tried to pull at his shoulder, but instead got something else.

Inuyasha stood, and stared deeply into her eyes. He let a small, low growl lurch from his throat.

"I _told_ you, don't call me 'lord'." He said, a hint of anger and sadness in his eyes.

Kagome didn't flinch once, only stared back into his eyes with an equal amount of force. Inuyasha pulled one of his hands up to the side of Kagome's face, and used the other to grasp her back, and pull her closer into him. The slave girl found the small amount of space between them lessen, until there was nothing separating them but the clothes they wore. Her eyes widened when their lips met, but only for a while. There was such warmth in his kiss, such, comfort, something Kagome hadn't felt in a while. She closed her eyes in bliss, and imagined it was only herself and Inuyasha in the world. He licked the bottom of her lip gently, begging keenly for entrance. With bare amounts of uncertainty, Kagome opened her mouth, and felt his tongue explore the every curve of her mouth.

Their moment was quickly interrupted by a rude outburst through the door.

"Inu! I'm here—" Kikyo stated. "Inuyasha! Who's that, that slut you're kissing?!" She asked in shock. Kagome pulled away from Inuyasha in pure terror. Inuyasha just stood there, looking slightly dazed, as if not sure this was reality or not. Kikyo walked up to the slave, and glared.

"You! Have some decency! Inu would _never_ take an interest in you other than a physical one, if you understand," She mocked. Kagome soon felt a wave of pain caress her cheek. She stumbled backwards a few steps, and was caught by Inuyasha, who quickly dropped his hold on her, and walked over to Kikyo. Kagome couldn't believe her eyes, or her ears.

"Learn your place, slave. Guards! Take her away!" Kikyo demanded.

Jaken and Gyou stepped from what seemed like their hiding places behind the Lady, if she could be called that, anyways. There was guilt and apology within the amber color in Inuyasha's eyes. Almost as if saying 'I'm sorry.' Kagome just stared in disbelief. He was the lord of the castle, and he was letting them drag her to who knows where, even if he didn't want her gone! Or maybe, he would rather her gone, so he could get started with Kikyo? The thought was too much to bear. Tears streamed down her face, burning her eyes, and putting a glaze she couldn't see past on them. She whispered three words so that only Inuyasha would have heard.

"I…love you." She said, and hung her head down in shame, as the two ruthless overseers took her away to a possible death.


	20. Chapter 20: The Never Ending Staircase

Chapter twenty: The Never Ending Staircase

Kagome was immediately taken to the same chamber in which she had previously been beaten. This place held dire memories. And unfortunately, the room hadn't changed a bit. It was still the same, dank, torch illuminated, rat-infested hell hole with a desk. Kagome felt a strong push on her shoulders, forcing her to the ground. A hoarse voice whispered in her ear.

"You really did it this time, _slave_." Kagome squeezed her eyes tight; she knew this beating was going to be far worse. To her amazement, the pain never came.

"Ha, you were expecting to get off easy, with just a few lashes? I'm sorry to say your punishment will be much more severe." Gyou announced.

Jaken stepped forth. "Kagome, I let you off easily last time, but now you know better than to go off kissing lord Inuyasha!" Kagome dared not speak, this was all happening to quickly, and it was much more frightening than she had ever imagined.

"I assume you remember me not sentencing you to a public beating last time, well, this time, you will be beaten in public, everyday, for three weeks. You are not allowed to leave your prison cell other than to use the restroom, see visitors, and of course, go to your, _sessions_." He remarked evilly. Kagome only stared at him in disbelief. This couldn't be happening, Inuyasha cared for her too, didn't he? He couldn't let this happen! He wouldn't dare! Or, would he? The slave girl hung her head low in shame. She didn't deserve this, not one bit; it wasn't her fault!

"Gyou, do with her as you please. I have other matters to attend to." And with that, Jaken stumbled cockily out of the door, as if pleased with himself.

Gyou smirked, and yanked Kagome up by her hair. They exited the room, and paced down three corridors or so, and finally came down to a long row of jail cells. The hallway was dim, and again, lit by torches, their cell windows were at the very top of the wall, narrow, and at ground level, not giving much light. Kagome could see sand and dirt swirl around in the window. Gyou paused, dug around for his keys in his pocket, and unlocked the cell door, grimacing as the bars screeched in protest.

Kagome was shoved roughly into the dank cell, and tripped on the uneven flooring. Kagome landed with a thud, and scraped her elbows on the coarse stone floor. She looked up, and saw a figure huddled in the corner, sitting on one of the beds. Kagome squinted in the dark room, and made out the figure of a woman, about the same size as Kagome.

"Hello?" Kagome asked. The figure made no effort to move whatsoever. Kagome got up on her knees, and limped over to the girl, and tapped her shoulder.

"Excuse me?" Kagome gasped, and took a step back. Whoever it was had died a while ago, in fact, a _long_ while ago. Its face was rotted, and blackened; maggots squirmed about in the eye sockets, the body was well into the decaying process, and Kagome was too horrified to notice the offensive stench. She jumped towards the cell door, and clutched the bars, looking face to face at the guard with whom she shared an equal amount of hatred.

"Gyou, you asshole! Get me out of here! I want a new cell— you can't possibly leave me in here with a corpse!" She cried, waves of fear shook her body relentlessly. He looked pleased.

"I wouldn't talk like that to someone higher than you, I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast." He smirked.

"You eat often I take it? Judging by the color of your teeth." Kagome said, smirking at her comeback.

Gyou self consciously reached up to his teeth, then hastily unlocked the cell door, and pulled Kagome out of the cell, pushing her into sharp objects and tripping her along the way. Finally, after ten minutes of a barrage of sharp objects, Gyou stopped, and unlocked a different cell. Kagome let out a sigh of relief; she saw that her cellmate was indeed very much alive, and playing solitaire.

Gyou walked away, with the clanging of closing cell doors. Kagome squinted, with a slight reluctance, and saw a familiar face.

"Rin? What are you doing here?" Kagome asked

"Kagome, is that you?" Rin asked excitedly, looking up from her cards.

"Yeah, it is." Kagome said, plopping onto the hard bunk bead her and Rin would be sharing.

"So, Rin, why are _you_ of all people in _prison_?" Kagome asked.

"Ugh, don't even bother, it was so pathetic, really."

"Really? What happened? Come on, tell me!"

"Jaken stubbed his toe, and said it was broken, the x-rays showed he that didn't even have a bones in his foot, so I wouldn't put a cast on it, so he had me locked up." Rin said, really annoyed.

"Wow, that's really stupid!" Kagome yelled.

"Shh! We don't want them coming in here! They'll beat us to no end!"

"Humph, its not much worse than the boat I'm already in." Kagome said, but then quickly covered her mouth."

"I kind of figured, you were always in the hospital for getting beaten." Rin grimaced.

Kagome laughed slightly, and realized the only times she had seen Rin were at the hospital. The two really didn't know each other very well, but were chatting away like best friends. However, Rin was probably just as desperate for company as Kagome was.

"So, why are _you_ here?" Rin questioned.

"I—uh, I…"

"You…?"

Kagome mumbled something incoherently.

"What?"

"I…Kissed…Lord Inuyasha…"

Rin's eyes grew wide in excitement.

"NO WAY!" She exclaimed rather loudly.

"Shh!! Be quiet! You said they would beat us for being too loud."

"Oh, right, I just go caught up in the moment is all…" Rin laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Just, I can't believe you did that! Haven't you heard the rumors?"

"The…rumors?"

"Yeah, real vicious ones. Lord Inuyasha poisoning his family, and then him screwing with the old head maid, the one who you just replaced, there was one where he murdered his old girlfriend, the one before Kikyo…"

"Stop, I'd really rather not hear them." Kagome interrupted.

"Suit yourself." Rin said, turning back to her game of cards.

"Hey, how'd you get those?" Kagome asked.

"I snuck `em from the overseers office, why?"

"Nice, aren't you worried that they will, you know, beat you?"

"Nope, they can't prove that the cards are theirs." Rin said proudly, grinning.

Kagome couldn't help grinning as well, but her thoughts were too muddled to get much further.

"Hey Rin, I think I'm gonna take a nap for a little while, okay? If you can tell what time it is, wake me up in two hours or so, do you mind?" Kagome asked.

"Nope, not at all, I'll wake you in two hours, have a nice nap!" Rin chuckled.

Kagome pulled her exhausted body up to the top bunk, and rested her head on the flat, useless pillow onto of the mattress with two sheets on it. Kagome pulled one of the stain-covered sheets up to her head, wrapped it into a ball, and used it as a pillow, and used the other sheet as a light cover. She tried to sort out her thoughts one by one, but it didn't seem to work too well. One thought depended on another; you needed to solve one thought to understand another thought, and so on. Questions relating to Kikyo, Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha, Rin, herself, the beatings she was going to be receiving, the rumors spread about Inuyasha, and Kagome's family. It was all one big, cluttered mess in her brain.

-------

Kagome woke up about and hour and a half later, not to Rin's voice, but to Gyou's.

"Get up, slave! It's time for your, 'sessions'." He smirked.

Kagome hazily rubbed her eyes, and stumbled down the ladder and reluctantly over to the entrance to the cell. Gyou slid open the bars, and let Kagome through.

"You want to come and watch?" He asked, voice filled with malice. His question was directed at Rin. Rin, knowing she didn't have much of a choice, obediently stepped out of the cell, and stood before Kagome and Gyou. The overseer put two heavy chains onto Kagome's neck like a dog collar, and the ends of the chains at his firm hold. Every so often, Gyou would yank at the ends of Kagome's chains, and she would choke, and gag, even trip over her own feet, and fall to the ground, choking her even further. Rin, had tried to get Gyou to ease up, but he just struck her down, and she ended up with a black eye.

Gyou opened up a large metal door, and both girls squinted from the sudden change in light. When they got outside, there was a colossal crowd jeering at them. Kagome didn't know whether they were booing at her, or the overseers. Judging by the fact that the overseers looked upset, she guessed they were protesting her sentence. Things were thrown at Gyou, and every so often, one of the objects would hit Kagome or Rin. There was a small platform rising well above the crowd, and two overseers standing on top of it. Kagome guessed that's where she was going.

-----

Inuyasha gritted his teeth after Kagome had left, guilt swam all over his senses, and he was too engulfed in the feeling to notice Kikyo blabbing about how much she missed him.

"Inuyasha, is there something wrong, baby?" Kikyo asked.

"Hmm? Oh, no, I'm great."

"You were thinking about that whore weren't you? The one you were kissing earlier! Weren't you?" Kikyo sank to her knees, and began to cry softly. Inuyasha, being the complete softy he is, couldn't stand to see any girl cry, no matter whom.

Inuyasha knelt down beside Kikyo and pulled her into an embrace. He lifted her chin so she was looking directly at him, her red tinged eyes dripping. Inuyasha wiped away the tears with his thumb, and kissed Kikyo lightly on the forehead.

"Don't worry about it…Kikyo." Inuyasha said, rubbing her back gently.

"Inuyasha…I missed you."

Inuyasha paused. "I…missed you too."

Kikyo smiled, and stood up, while Inuyasha remained sitting, looking up at her, confused.

"Kikyo, what are you doing?" He asked

"C 'mon! You have to show me everything that's changed since I left, I even heard they you were building a new club, eh? Will you show me?" She asked.

"I don't know, not that much has changed, really I—"

Kikyo rolled her eyes and pulled Inuyasha by his sleeve all the way outside. Inuyasha suggested that they just walk, versus taking the royal carriage and all; it would be best not to attract attention. As much as Kikyo disliked this proposal, she went along with it.

-----

Kagome followed Gyou through the path and up the wooden stairs that creaked in protest against the weight forced upon them. Kagome looked up at the swirling heights of the platform she was being lead up to. She looked out to the raging crowd below; most of her audience was shouting in protest, however, the overseers were quickly getting control over the spectators. The slave girl scanned the area for her friends Sango, or any familiar face for that matter. However, she was literally whipped from her thoughts by a rather strong overseer. Kagome stumbled, and regained her balance before falling off of the edge of the spiraling staircase. She tried to focus on the world around her, and look for a familiar face again. And to her horror, she found two. A single tear ran down Kagome's cheek as she saw Inuyasha with his arm fastened protectively over Kikyo's shoulder, and her resting her head on his shoulder, they were both watching her; Kikyo wore a smirk, but Inuyasha's eyes were hidden behind his bangs.

Maybe she really did deserve this. Maybe she was no better than dust in the wind. Maybe, she really should just accept this as it's plain form of abuse.

Gyou sneered at the slave who was following him. "Crying already are we?"

Kagome bit her lip to restrain herself from lunging at the overseer. His cocky smirk, the oily, greasy and curly red-brown hair, his sleazy displaced posture, everything about him sent sparks of rage flying into Kagome's body, _everything_ about that man. Kagome applied more pressure to her lip, making the skin break, and blood to seep out. She kept her calm, and trudged on up the never-ending staircase.

----

Inuyasha stared at Kagome from his point of the crowd. Kikyo had begged him to stop and see what was going on; even though he had a feeling she knew as well as him what was going to take place. _His_ Kagome staggered up the long trail of steps, on by one, constantly being pulled by what looked like a human-sized dog collar. Inuyasha stared up at her, and watcher her being tortured. He wasn't able to stop this procedure. Well, he hypothetically _could_ stop this, and end it quickly, but that would mean upsetting Kikyo, which would lead to a deadly war against two prominent kingdoms.

"Oh Inuyasha! I always enjoyed seeing these back at my kingdom, but I can't help but feel bad for the poor souls." She said. It wasn't quite believable if you listened to her tone of voice.

"Yeah…right…"

He noticed Kagome look at him with an extreme look of disappointment, and distaste. He could smell the metallic scent of blood, and salty scent of tears emanating from the slave girl he preferred to call his.

Kagome finally made it to the top of the long staircase, and was about to collapse of exhaustion, and dehydration, when Gyou yanked her upwards with the chains. She gagged profusely, until he loosened his hold on the chains. Another one of the overseers, whom had been waiting at the top, pulled out a sleek, narrow black whip. Kagome cringed at the sight of yet another whip, but she had accepted it as normality by this point. Kagome looked over to Rin, who had been trudging ahead them most of the time. A different overseer had taken her ahead of Kagome and Gyou. Kagome never quite understood why.

The overseer had a black woolen mask over their face, and seemed to be enjoying the agony the slave girl before him was enduring. Kagome mentally cursed this entire palace, for it's cruelty and strange behavior, why couldn't it just be normal, and have the lord residing over it make the decisions? Not everyone else. This seemed too bizarre. Kagome was forced to her knees, and was presented in front of the entire crowd, who had grown silent over the past ten minutes.

Kagome braced herself for the on coming pain, and boy did it come, _hard. _The overseer brought down the torture weapon down onto Kagome's back, and lashed her repeatedly. She mentally counted. _One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten_. Blood dripped down Kagome's back as she fell face first onto the hard wooden platform.

"Get up!" Gyou demanded, kicking Kagome in the side. "I said, _get up_!"

Kagome pulled her battered form up off the floor about five inches, before feeling the stinging pain of the whip clashing against her skin once more. At this point Kagome was panting for breath, and couldn't take this much more, her back was raw, and torn up, her mental stability had long been diminished, and she didn't have much else to rely on after that. Crack! That was fifteen.

Kagome stood up abruptly, the blood now seeping down her back, and moving down to her feet. She rocked back and forth as she positioned herself at eyelevel with the overseer who had been whipping her.

"What are you doing? Get back down!" The overseer shouted.

Kagome looked out at the crowd to see Inuyasha and Kikyo even closer, if that was possible. She was done, she quit, and she'd had enough of life. She stumbled over to the edge of the platform, and her vision became hazy. She could hear a number of muddled screams, shouts, and chaos beneath her. There was a little voice in the back of her head screaming 'Don't do it! Don't jump! You have too much to live for!' Arguing against suicide at this point was like trying to stop a hurricane from getting you wet with a leaf— not very effective. Kagome took one last glance at the world below her, and was about to jump, when she fell limp. Half of her body lay dangling off of the platform, and the other remaining on the surface.

Inuyasha's heart stopped. "Kagome!" He shouted. Kikyo looked up at him in surprise.

"Inuyasha, you still care for that worthless, inadequate, piece of—"

Inuyasha gave Kikyo a stern look that silenced her, for a total of five seconds.

"I just thought that—"

Inuyasha shot another cold glare it her as he watched Kagome hanging, almost certain to plunge to her end in a matter of seconds. '_Why aren't those guards pulling her up? What's wrong with those bastards? I'm going to rip every one of them to pieces…_' He thought.

-----

Sango finished putting away the last of Kikyo's crap that she had lugged along with her during her journey. The room was neatly in order, and everything seemed perfect. Sango walked over to the window and decided to open the blinds, and maybe step out for a bit of fresh air. What she saw in the distance really did not please her. She could make out a huge crowd forming around a large wooden platform. Sango scrambled for a pair of binoculars Kikyo had brought along with her, and aimed the device out over the balcony. She peered at the crowd, and made out two feminine figures. _'Oh no, Gods, please don't let it be Kagome!'_ Sango thought desperately. As she brought the binoculars into focus, she discovered it actually was Kagome, and Rin, from the hospital.

Sango bit her lip, and rushed down the grand staircase, forgetting to put any of her supplies away, or check out for that matter. She rushed outside, and heard that the crowd was still roaring, usually, that meant that there was still time.

"KIRARA!" Sango called into the wind. After about a minute or so, a large cat demon emerged from the fog-covered, murky sky. Sango jumped onto the flying cat demon and raced off to where Kagome was being held. She could only hope that she would arrive in time.

-----

Kagome tried to move herself onto the platform, but her body was far too strained to do so, and part of her was still bent on giving up. It was probably the worst internal struggle she had ever experienced. Her head was throbbing, and she couldn't see very well. When things finally became more distinct, the objects were still swirling and confusing the poor slave girl. All of the incandescent shouting made matters worse, not only was her vision impaired, but so was her hearing, she couldn't think straight, or at all for that matter.

The slave could feel her consciousness slipping even further from her grasp, and her hold on reality weaken. Things started to fade out, and then eventually, completely disappear.

The entire crowd held it's breath. No one dared make a sound, much less scream. Kagome's limp body went tumbling down all ten stories of wooden planks, her loose limbs occasionally hitting a wooden beam of some kind. All thought hope was lost— all but one: Sango.

Kirara sped down to Kagome's rescue at the very last possible second. Sango held Kagome tightly in her arms, and noticed the horrible condition of her friend. Kagome's nose had definitely been re-broken, her back was bleeding a fair amount, and Sango guessed that at least both of her arms had some hairline fractures at the least. Kagome's breathing was shallow and uneven, and very labored.

Kirara lowered, and a gap in the crowd formed to let the giant cat land. Inuyasha was the first to rush to Kagome's side. He pulled Kagome from Sango's arms the second they landed, and held her close to him.

"Kagome, I'm so sorry, I never meant for anything like this to happen, especially not to you, it's all my fault, forgive me." He said, wiping away some of the dirt and blood off from Kagome's forehead.

Both Sango and Kikyo shot Inuyasha disgusted looks, but for different reasons.

"Lord Inuyasha! How could you! You could have caught Kagome way before I even arrived! You would have let her _die_?" Sango screamed. The words streaming from the former demon slayer's mouth stung and burned him inside.

"Inuyasha! I can't believe you! You're supposed to be _mine_! But _no_, you're still obsessed with that…!" Kikyo hollered, but was soon cut off by Sango.

"Don't you even start with me, bitch!" Sango said, jumping at Kikyo. Kikyo displayed a classic look of extreme fear as Sango landed on top of her. She slapped, kicked, punched, scratched, and even bit Kikyo when she could get the chance. Kikyo was doing the exact same, and it looked like they were just rolling around in the dirt together.

After about twenty minutes, the overseers had bothered to stop the two from killing each other, and Sango was put in the same jail cell as Kagome; Rin had been released that day. Kikyo had many claw marks on her face, and quite a few bruises across her body, but nothing broken. However, she whined about every little thing each minute or so. Sango had escaped with only a few bite marks, scratches, and maybe one bruise, but nothing serious. Kagome on the other hand, was in critical condition for the night. The mental and physical stress put on her body was too much for one person to take in a day. She had minor internal bleedings, one broken arm, over fourty stitches in her back, a sprained ankle; she had to wear a neck brace for a week, and had many small bandages covering her body.

Sango had refused to leave Kagome's side, but the overseers dragged her to her prison cell, most literally. Inuyasha had stayed for about half an hour, but then Kikyo dragged him out to show her the new club that was under construction. Rin watched over Kagome for the majority of the night, but then retired at 3:00 in the morning for a little bit of sleep.

It had been nine hours since the incident, and Kagome was still unconscious. The doctors were beginning to think she was on the verge of slipping into a coma. They considered life-support, but thought it was too early to determine whether or not she was in bad enough shape.

Kagome awoke to an empty, plain white hospital room. Her head felt really heavy, and the room started to sway. '_What had happened? Where am I? The last thing I remember…_' Kagome's eyes widened, and a few tears stung her eyes. She had lived through that? The heartache alone threatened to kill her. Kagome tried to move her arm and found that she couldn't. Actually, she couldn't feel anything. '_Some of the anesthetic must still be in my system._' Kagome tried to convince herself.

Just then, Rin walked in with another different doctor. When they saw that Kagome was awake, shocked and joyous expressions spread across their features. Rin rushed over to Kagome and started talking a million miles an hour. With her body still being drugged, many of Rin's words seemed like a low humming sound. However, Kagome managed to catch a few words and phrases, many of them having to do with 'worried', and 'not going to make it'. Kagome felt sorry that she had caused so much chaos, and really wished that she would have just died. She would be in even _more _trouble than she already was in. This just couldn't get much worse, could it?

Rin walked over, and took Kagome's temperature, and everything else done on a routine visit: breathing, pulse, and blood pressure, then recorded them and then left the room, turning off the lights on her way out.

The dark greatly welcomed sleep for Kagome. She couldn't help it. As much as she wanted to stay awake and figure things out, she was too tired. Soon Kagome was fast asleep, slipping into mildly plagued dreams.

----

"Ah, this is going far better than I could have hoped, that slave girl is going to take the liberty of killing herself!"

A man in dark robes chuckled, and then walked over to a small girl in all white. She angled her mirror to her master's vision, and held it there. The image shown on the mirror portrayed that of a weak, and sick girl lying on white sheets in a hospital bed, tossing and turning, covered in sweat.

"Poor thing she must be having a nightmare." He cackled sarcastically.

"Master, when will we send the troops to attack?" The girl asked.

"When our lady commands us to, Kanna, be patient."

----

Inuyasha walked hand in hand with Kikyo to the club that was being built. It was only the foundation, and a couple of main supporter beams, but that was it. The materials lay scattered around the building, in heaps separated into usable, and scrap.

Kikyo stared in awe. There was a picture of what the club was going to look like in the future, and it really was breathtaking. It was going to be made of sleek black metal, with lights reflecting off of it, making it look like many other colors. There would be a main stage that looked like a theatre with a bar in back, and in a second main room, it would be all chrome. There were also other rooms for 'private time' if guests so chose. There were dance cages on the ceiling, and a multi-colored lights for the stage and disco lights for the rest of the area. The diagram was in great detail, even down to the snack bar and bathrooms.

"Awe! Inu! It looks so great! When they're finally done with this, we should go to the grand opening! Can I plan it? Do you mind?" Kikyo went on and on about basically the same thing, talking non-stop. She kept saying something about inviting all of the kingdom's royalty, and having a big party. Or, something like that anyways. Finally, Kikyo stopped talking, and they walked to the kingdom's private garden, complete with a lit-up fountain.

The sun was now beginning to set. Inuyasha and Kikyo sat side-by-side watching the sun disappear into the horizon. Kikyo was thinking about how many nice children they would have in the near future, and that she would live in luxury for the rest of her life, while Inuyasha's mind was buzzing about what to do. The most important formula his kingdom has ever sponsored was missing, Kagome could be dead right now, and Kikyo was clinging to him like super glue was sticking them together. He didn't exactly mind Kikyo very much, he actually enjoyed her company, it was just her bossy side that bothered him, and she could get so demanding some times.

He completely ignored the formula and Kikyo for a minute, and focused on Kagome. He tried desperately to concentrate on picturing her face, but all her ever could conjure was his last sights of her, alone, and dying, both on the inside and outside. The short raspy breaths she took when he was by her side still rung throughout his ears. He felt so guilty. Sango's words were true. He would have let her die right in front of him. As much as it pained him to think of it, she was right. But what could he do? Kikyo would have stormed off, and declared a war, and then everything would be jeapordized. Inuyasha shook his head in frustration. No. He _should_ have saved her. He _should_ have protected her. He _should_ have been there to bail her out of what he put her in. It really _was_ his fault that she was in prison anyhow. She hadn't forced herself on him, it was quite the opposite. He gritted his teeth angrily. '_What the hell is wrong with me?_'

"Inuyasha, is there something the matter?" Kikyo asked.

Inuyasha stared deep into Kikyo's cold eyes, searching for some spark of love, kindness— anything. He found nothing, Kikyo's eyes were so cold it was almost as if she was dead.

"Hmm? No. Nothing's wrong, come on, let's go." Inuyasha said, standing up.

"Are you sure? You seem sick?"

"No, I'm not sick." He half growled. Kikyo got the message and backed off. The two walked back to the main castle and up to their separate rooms to retire for the night. It was only 9:45, so Inuyasha wasn't nearly tired enough to go to sleep, so he just flipped on the T.V. About five minutes later, Kikyo came in.

"I just wanted to say…I'm—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad, okay?" She said.

"Yeah, it's fine. You wanna sit?" He asked.

"Fine."

They stared at the T.V. in yet another silence. Ten more minutes later, another knock was at Inuyasha's door.

"It's Miroku."

"Come in." The door opened, and Miroku stepped in the door— his features chillingly stern.

"I need to talk to you." He said. Both Kikyo and Inuyasha turned their attention to him. Noticing Kikyo, he added. "Alone, if you will."

----

It was now past ten, and Kagome was still having her nightmare, it wouldn't seem to end. Her heart race had increased considerably, and about three doctors poured into the room, and tried to awaken her, but to no avail. Every now and then, she would let out a cry pf pain, or would whimper one of her family member's names. Rin noticed that Kagome seemed to mention members of the castle as well. One in particular, Inuyasha.

Kagome's blood pressure had dropped a little bit, so she was no longer in peril, but they were still worried about the pace of her heart. It seemed to still be going a little faster than normal, but nothing that would harm her. The doctors made note of this strange occurrence, but deemed it a 'false alarm'.

Rin stayed up late yet another day watching over Kagome. Not much happened other than an occasional murmur of undecipherable words.

----

Sango waited impatiently in her cell for Miroku to come. She was notified that he had said he would be with her thirty minutes ago. She was rather annoyed at his inconsistencies. Miroku had said that he needed to speak with the lord first, and that might take a while. The slave sighed, and tapped her foot on the rough concrete flooring. Sango recalled begging Miroku to let her out of prison, but there was nothing more he could do. Assaulting royalty is a final offence, meaning that she should be killed for it. Miroku had made it so she would be let out of prison two weeks before Kagome, whose term had expanded two weeks due to her little 'incident'. Sango could hear footsteps coming towards her cell, and she figured it was Miroku, however, just to be safe, she pulled the covers over her body, and pretended to sleep until she could tell who was approaching her. Slaves in prison weren't supposed to stay up past 11:30, and it was now nearing 12:00. You wouldn't think that a few minutes would make that big of a deal, but it really did to the overseers. Not that Sango was afraid of them or anything, she could take most of them out without a weapon, but she didn't need to go to all of the trouble, plus, there would be too many to take on at once.

"Sango, you up?" Miroku whispered from in between the iron bars.

"Yeah." She replied quietly.

Sango could hear the familiar clinking of keys, and then the iron bars sliding open, then back into place.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" Miroku whispered, sitting next to Sango, and putting his arm around her shoulders comfortably, pulling her into him.

"It's just, everything. I'm really worried about Kagome, and even if you don't believe me, I think Naraku has that formula, I don't know what he is capable of with that! And then there's Kikyo…"

"You know what, I don't think you should worry about any of that, my dear."

"You didn't let me finish." Sango stated.

"Okay, very well then, continue."

"And then there's you…" Sango said, focusing as best she could in the darkness of her prison cell on Miroku.

"Hmm? What about me?" He said with a perverted grin smeared all over his face.

Sango closed her eyes tight and moved closer to Miroku. Their noses slightly brushed against each other before their lips met together in an enticing kiss. Not the most romantic scenery, but that didn't matter to either of them. Miroku's tongue grazed upon the bottom of her lip. She, without hesitation, opened her mouth to him. The two fought an epic battle for dominance, but ended up giving in when they both needed some air.

The two went for it again, and again, and before they knew it, it was early into the morning. Miroku decided it was time to leave, but Sango begged him to stay and hold her.

"Please?" She asked, conjuring the saddest pout face she could.

"Sango, no I—" He stopped himself when he caught Sango's quivering lip in the moonlight.

"Fine, but you owe me." He said with a mischievous grin, sitting on the bed with her.

Miroku leaned up against the wall, and held Sango in his lap. She snuggled close to him, with his arms around her as a protective shield against the cruelties of the world. She sighed, and leaned her head up against his neck, closing her eyes.

"You know… I've never really felt this safe before, I'm actually… happy." She said openly.

Miroku was a bit shocked at her forwardness, but quickly recovered.

"I agree." He said with a smile, kissing her on the forehead.


	21. Chapter 21: Goodnight Kisses

**A/N: Hey guys! I just wanted to thank all of you that have stuck with my story-- it's really been a confidence booster lately; I can't believe I left for so long! I also would like to welcome anyone new to the story and would love it-- if you like this story, that is-- to pass this along to your friends :) Feel free to review with your opinions, good or bad. Constructive criticism is always welcome! Here's your next chapter-- enjoy! (I also apologize for the inconsistent lengths of my chapters -_-')**

Chapter twenty-one: Goodnight Kisses

Inuyasha laid awake for hours thinking of what Miroku had told him. They had managed to recover the tape that might have showed them what happened when Sango was on duty. However, the tape was half melted and covered in miasma when they obtained it. The tape was too deformed to play, but they were analyzing the miasma as to find the owner, but it would take a while.

Inuyasha couldn't think straight; his mind was too focused on Kagome to do much of anything, more or less figure out whom a glob of toxic goop belonged to. He had to see her, he just had to. Kikyo had fallen asleep on his shoulder, and was latched on tight, if her moved her off of him, she would awaken almost instantly. Inuyasha sighed, and took his chances. Using inhuman speed, he jerked his arm away from Kikyo and instantly replaced it with a cylindrical pillow. He figured it would do. He crept over to the window as silently as he could, but to his dismay, he tripped on a brush Kikyo had brought in, and fell flat on his face. 'Shit, shit, shit!!' He screamed in his mind.

"Mmm, Inuyasha?" Kikyo mumbled into the pillow. She turned, and then went back to sleep.

Inuyasha sighed in relief. The last thing he needed was Kikyo interrogating him. He snuck out the window, ran off the balcony, and jumped. He had to remember where the hospital was, and then what room Kagome was in. He recalled her window facing to the west, so he'd just have to deal with trial and error.

When he made it to the west wing of the hospital, Inuyasha was fairly out of breath. With a great deal of dumb luck, the first window he checked was Kagome's. He took a giant leap and made it to the third floor of the building and stealthily opened the window, letting himself in.

The room was pretty dark, and bland— you could even tell through the thick blackness engulfing the room. The only two things that gave off any light were the moon, and the lime green line of the heart monitor. Fortunately, Inuyasha's demonic senses allowed him to see in the dark, quite frankly, he wished that he hadn't seen her. Kagome looked terrible, covered in sweat, and blood had leaked onto much of the bed and had caked onto parts of her skin, it would come out eventually thought. He cringed, she looked so pale and lifeless, this beating had definitely taken a toll on her, well maybe not the beating so much as the falling ten stories to your doom part.

Kagome turned over, and mumbled into the pillow right into the pillow as Kikyo had done. What he could make out completely broke his heart.

"No, please! Mom, Dad! Don't go! Don't let them get me!" Apparently, she was having a nightmare about her childhood. He guessed her life wasn't any better here either. The heartbeat on the monitor increased slightly. Kagome turned again.

"No!" She choked a sob in her pillow.

"Mom! Please, stop bleeding! Please." There was silence for a while, with the exception of the furious, yet quiet beeping of the monitor. Inuyasha feared the doctors would come soon, so he was getting ready to jump back out the window.

"Where are you going?" Inuyasha was startled, had she known he was here the whole time?

"Inuyasha!" Inuyasha sighed; she was still asleep, and apparently, dreaming about him. He would rather that she be awake than continue to suffer in the nightmare any longer.

Inuyasha paced over to Kagome, and nudged her shoulder lightly.

"Kagome, Kagome wake up, it's just a dream."

Kagome's eyelids cracked slightly, and then fell back down. Realizing someone was standing over her in the dark, Kagome's eyes snapped open immediately. She let out a muffled scream, courtesy of Inuyasha clamping a hand over her mouth.

"Shh, Kagome, it's me, Inuyasha." He said quietly.

Kagome stopped struggling, and silenced herself, as if searching for the name. Apparently, it came to her when she bit his hand as hard as she could.

"Owe! Kagome! What the hell was that for?" Inuyasha screamed. Kagome was silent, and then laid back down and pulled the covers over her face.

"Kagome, talk to me." He urged. She just turned her back to him. Inuyasha could feel the faint scent of tears coming from the slave girl. He walked cautiously over to her bed, and sat next to her. Inuyasha pulled the girl out from her cage of covers, and held her in his lap, being careful of the numerous IV's. Kagome just lay limp, trying to make it harder for him.

"Listen, Kagome…." He paused. "I know this is all because of me. If you never want to see me again, I understand. I can have you assigned elsewhere, and you'll be fine. I promise."

Tears streamed from Kagome's eyes, and streaked across her face. Inuyasha pulled her tighter to him.

"Hush, it'll be alright, don't cry, please Kagome. We can talk about this later." He said gently. However, she just continued to cry softly. They sat there for a while, in complete silence, there was a high tension in the air, and neither of them particularly enjoyed it. After what seemed like decades, Kagome shattered the silence.

"You like her better than me, don't you?" She asked softly, her voice hoarse from crying and lack of use. The question startled the hanyou.

"What? What are you talking about Kagome? You know I care about you." He said, pulling tighter on her yet again.

"You honestly expect me to believe that?" She forced a small laugh.

"Give me one reason not to." He said.

"You let the guards take me away." She said.

"I had no choice."

"You always have a choice, Inuyasha."

"Give me another reason." He said, upset she had been able to prove him wrong.

"You didn't bother to even _try_ to get me out of jail."

"I didn't know!"

"Okay, let me rephrase that. You didn't bother to find out what happened to me after the guards took me away."

"Kikyo was all over me, I had no time."

"When I was being beaten, you didn't even bother to call it off."

"How did you even know I was there?" He mused.

"For one, I saw you there with Kikyo, and Sango told me the whole thing."

"And, you didn't even move to try and catch me when I fell."

Inuyasha bit his lip; he knew he had lost the argument.

"Is that enough reasons?"

Inuyasha stayed silent, thinking deeply.

"It's okay, don't worry about it, I think its just better if we don't see each other anymore, you obviously like Kikyo better, I think you two make a cute couple. Besides, why would you want to be with a slave anyways?" She less-than whispered. Inuyasha opened his mouth to protest, but Kagome continued.

"At one point I really thought I loved you…I— Its not meant to be," She choked.

Inuyasha remained silent now, the only movement that would signal him to be living, was the slight rise and fall of his chest when he breathed. Kagome repositioned herself in his hold, and lightly kissed him on the cheeks.

"Good bye." She said, and rolled away from him under the sheets, and went back to sleep.

Inuyasha stood up from the edge of the bed, and looked at Kagome wearily. His heart had just been shattered into a million pieces, and then crushed into dust. He would get Kagome to forgive him one way or another.

Inuyasha jumped out the window so quietly, Kagome didn't even know he had left until she looked and found him gone. A single tear found it's way down her cheek, yet again, and disappeared into the sheets of the bed. '_This is for the best, isn't it?_' She questioned herself. "Oh Gods, what have I _done_?" She thought aloud.

----

Kagome awoke to the familiar bustling about of Rin in the morning. Rin looked up from what she was doing, and flashed a sad smile towards Kagome.

"Hey there, you awake already?"

Kagome nodded.

"That's good news, are you feeling okay?"

Kagome nodded again.

"Okay, something's up, what's wrong?"

Kagome just shook her head, fighting back tears.

"Alright, suit yourself, I just thought I should let you know, we're letting you out of the hospital tomorrow morning, you seemed to have recovered rather quickly. I've only heard of someone with spiritual, or demonic powers heal that quickly. We know you're not a demon, because the tests came back negative, but there's no way to test for miko powers."

Kagome just looked at Rin with a look questioning the nurse's sanity, but soon regained her normality.

Rin left the room, and Kagome went to think about last night. Had she dreamed the whole thing? She had been dreaming a lot lately anyhow. No, no, it seemed too real to be a dream. She would find out sooner or later when she had to go back and clean Inuyasha's room. But that would be too far off; either of them was likely to forget after five weeks time! As if the world were reading Kagome's thoughts, a different nurse popped in the room.

"Hi! Is this Miss Higurashi's room?" The nurse asked.

"Um, yes, yes it is, why?" Kagome answered

"I just wanted to let you know, when you're released from the hospital, you only have to serve a week tops, isn't that great? Oh, and you're friend Sango is completely bailed out" She squealed. This nurse was peppy. Too peppy.

"Oh, that is really, great, uh, thanks." Kagome said nervously.

When the nurse left, Kagome let out a relieved sigh, and plopped backwards onto her pillow. '_Boy, that was interesting, I wonder if Inuyasha had anything to do with that?'_ Kagome thought to herself. The nurse didn't really specify who, what, when or why, but getting out of jail weeks in advance was great! The slave girl closed her eyes and tried to enjoy the last day of no work, and peace she would have for a while, unless her beatings were this bad again. Kagome chuckled sadly, and then let the feelings of sleep overcome her.


	22. Chapter 22: Miroku the Moody

**A/N: (Sometimes I wonder if you guys even read these-- Quite frankly, I don't read other ones...) Anywho, I'd like to again thank everyone for reading and reviewing, or just reading. If you get a chance, please review. I'd like to know what you think :)**

*****Lastly, I'd like to draw your attention to a website designed for discussing all things anime: fan-works, fan-culture etc. The website is fanbbs(dot)net, ****So please, if you get a spare moment and feel like showing off your stuff, or just chatting, stop by! And now, your next chapter. Enjoy!  
**

Chapter 22: Miroku the Moody

Sango sat in her cell, playing solitaire. She was quite frankly, bored out of her mind. Miroku had left early in the morning yesterday, and was supposed to be visiting soon, but she knew better than to be dependant on his timing. Sango growled in frustration. She hated solitaire! She had only ever won once, out of about two hundred games. Sango stood up from her bunk, and paced around the room, trying to burn off steam. Then something came to mind; she could work on her demon slaying skills! Even though she may not need them for a while, she might as well refresh her memory. Besides, she didn't have anything better to do, except lose about twenty more games of solitaire.

Sango began stretching, twisting out painful knots, and loosening her joints. She cracked, twisted and stretched her back. After about twenty minutes or so, she moved onto core strength and overall flexibility exercises. Sango thrust her leg in the air above her head, and held in there, using the wall as balance, for fifty seconds. She continued this for about two hours, and still wasn't done.

Holding onto the bars of the cell door, Sango twisted into yet another painful looking stretch, involving a foot directly above her head while still standing. Miroku began opening the cell door, both of them unaware that either was on the other side of the door. Sango squealed as the door opened and she began to lose her balance. Miroku, heard Sango's cries, and looked at her, only to see her foot coming down from the door and into his face.

"SHIT!" He screamed.

Sango, once regaining balance, looked at Miroku in shock. He had a nice footprint on his face, and he would most-likely get a bruise later on.

"What was that for, Sango?"

"Miroku! I'm so sorry! It's just that I didn't see you, and I lost my balance, and—"

"You know what, it doesn't matter now, what's done is done." He said a bit irritably.

"Sheesh, what's got your undies in a bunch?" She giggled.

Miroku only glared. "I'm not in that great of a mood, alright?" He stated.

"Yeah, I kind of noticed, what's on your mind?" She asked light-heartedly, sitting next to him on the bottom bunk.

"It's nothing." He said coldly.

"Miroku, it's not like I could tell anyone." She nodded, indicating her prison.

"I said it's nothing."

"Fine, fine, whatever, but have you checked in on Kagome? Or at least heard anything about her? It's practically driving me insane!"

"Yeah, she's fine. She should be released from the hospital tomorrow evening, I think. And she's only got to serve one more week here, so you'll be alone here for just a little while longer, I'm afraid."

"But, you'll come to visit me, right?" She pouted.

"I'm not sure if I can, things are getting really tied up lately, especially with _Kikyo_ around." He said.

Sango laughed. "Amen to that."

Miroku couldn't help but smile. "I suppose."

"So has anything else happened?"

Miroku refrained from speaking for a moment. "No, not really."

"Liar!" Sango said, throwing the cloth pillow at him.

"Yuck!" He howled. "This thing is _distgusting_. You have to _sleep_ on this?" He asked in disbelief.

"I don't have much of a choice, now do I?" She chuckled, also grossed out by the imitation pillow.

"Well, than I guess I'll just have to get you a new one the, what do you think?" He said playfully. Miroku leaned in to gently kiss Sango, but she recoiled.

"What's gotten into you? One minute, you're ready to bite my head off, and now you're kissing me!" She exclaimed.

"So does that mean I don't get my kiss?" Miroku pouted.

Sango smiled. "Of course not," She said, kissing him full on the lips.

"So… why can't you tell me what's going on? I have a right to know, after all." Sango said, sitting in Miroku's lap.

"It's a secret." He said.

"Secrets, secrets are no fun, secrets are for everyone!" She chanted, as if only five.

"Hmm, well, that's too bad, because I'm not telling." He said, with a smug smile.

"Fine."

"So, what's new with you?"

"Nothing, I've been locked up in a cell room all day, what do you expect?"

"I suppose you're right. Well, I'm sorry, but I have to cut this visit short, my sweet." Miroku said, kissing Sango lightly on the lips—and squeezing her backside— before he left.

Sango blushed furiously, and muttered under her breath.

"Pervert."

"I heard that!" Miroku shouted, his voice echoing through the corridor.

"Good!" She retorted, laughing as she did so.

----

Miroku got out of his car, and hurried to his office, and checked his messages. To his discomfort, there was one, from Shippo.

"_One new message, three-fifty-three, P.M_"

"Hi Miroku. It's Shippo, I'm afraid I've got some…_interesting_ news. Uh, we found the source of miasma. Call me when you get back. Thanks, bye." Shippo's colemn voice echoed through the office.

Miroku hastily punched the numbers for Shippo's office. It rang about five times before a groggy Shippo picked up the phone.

"What?"

"Shippo? It's Miroku."

Shippo's tone softened. "Oh, sorry Miroku, this case is just ridiculous."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, you see, the miasma belonged to Naraku, I trust you will inform Lord Inuyasha about this A.S.A.P."

"Gotcha." Miroku said, and then hung up the phone.

Miroku hastily advanced to Inuyasha's secret chambers. There he found Inuyasha sitting slumped, his back against the wall, head on his knees, and deep in thought. Miroku thought he was sleeping at first, but Inuyasha's response proved him wrong.

"Feh. Took you long enough." He grumbled.

"Sorry, Inuyasha, I just thought you should know, we confirmed a suspect in the formula case."

"Really now? Do tell." He said sarcastically.

"Well, you see, it was—"

"Damn it, Miroku! I already know!" He cried. "Thanks for having the decency to do your _job_."

"Then why, Inuyasha, did you ask me to tell you who the suspect was?"

"Because you idiot, I'm getting really tired of this. Didn't Sango tell you this, _weeks_ ago?" Inuyasha hissed.

"Yeah, she did as a matter of fact, but you must understand, it was her word against his, and—"

"Save it, Miroku, I don't want to hear it, you're dismissed."

"Inuyasha, you need to calm down, or perhaps get counseling. Because, quite frankly, you're acting like a child, and I am in no mood to deal with it. If you want my advice, you should banish Naraku, dump Kikyo, and get back Kagome, but I suppose you already knew _that_ too."

"I _said_, you're dismissed."

"Excuse me, _your highness_." Miroku said, turning on his heel to leave, and stepping out of the door calmly.


End file.
